Watch Out Meatball Head!
by CrescentmoonBunny
Summary: cant say much or i'll be giving away the story, all i can say is that there 's an accident and the senshi's and Andrew use this as an oportunity to get Serena and Darien together ! ~chpt 16~ unsuccessful reunions = love 'triangle'..... errr 'square' ???
1. Chapter One

Watch Out Meatball Head !  
  
1 Chapter One  
  
*********************************************************  
  
Serena Tsukino was heading towards the temple where her friend Ray lived, She wasn't her usual bouncy, cheerful self, in fact she was in a bad mood. she'd had a horrible day, today. First, she was half an hour late to school, it wasn't her fault she'd forgotten to set her alarm clock ! So she got detention for after school, then she'd fallen asleep in Algebra class so she'd gotten detention for the entire week !!!!! and then to make matters worse she had gotten back the results for that English paper, and she had a D-.  
  
"Why so sad Meatball head ?" came a voice from not far behind her, interrupting her thoughts.  
  
a voice she knew just too well, a voice that belonged to none other than Darien  
  
Chiba.  
  
She chose to ignore him. But he had other things on his mind.  
  
"No, let me guess, you failed another test ?! that doesn't surprise me" He said laughing.  
  
"oh shut up Darien, I've had a bad day o.k. and I don't need you to make it worse !!!! so LEAVE ME ALONE !" she screamed the last bit. she stood their for a minute staring at his shocked face.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I've had a bad day, and I was supposed to meet my friends at the temple half an hour ago, Bye !" with that she quickly started walking away. leaving a stunned Darien starring at her retreating back. 'just because I've had a bad day doesn't mean that I have to take it out on Darien' she thought.  
  
"Crash !!" (thunder and lightning)  
  
"Oh great just to make my day cant get any worse !" she thought. she hated thunder not to mention scared of it. Not soon after, giant rained drops started falling. seeing that she had just passed the arcade she decided to make a run for it there, she quickly started running back. 'I'll call Ray and the others and explain about the rainstorm, from the arcade' she thought as she walked through the entrance of the "crown arcade". She was already soaked from head to foot.  
  
***********************Andrew****************************  
  
He was taking an order when he saw a soaked Serena walk in, he waved at her. She smiled and waved back but didn't look very happy, as soon as he was done with the order he walked up to her.  
  
"You are soaked, do you want me to get you a towel ?" he asked. She smiled gratefully and nodded.  
  
Just then another customer approached, "Serena I've got serve the customers, I think they're taking shelter here, from that rainstorm !!" Andrew joked.  
  
Serena didn't smile.  
  
"Why don't you go to the back, there's a stack of towels there, last time I checked" Andrew said.  
  
"o.k." was Serena's soft reply.  
  
"and if you don't find any, Ask Darien to get you one from the top closet, he's back there drying off too." Andrew added, as she started walking around the counter.  
  
"Darien's there ?" Serena stopped walking. "Uh, maybe I'll just wait till you're finished." Serena stammered. 'I'm not going to face him looking like this, he'll just have another insult to throw at me' she thought.  
  
Andrew gave her a weird look but didn't say anything, 'they must have had another fight or something' he thought. 'I'll set him straight when I get Serena her towel'. with that he started serving the customers as quickly as he could, determined to have a talk with Darien before he left for his evening classes.  
  
**************************Serena*************************  
  
she made her way through the now crowded arcade, everyone seem to want to get away from the rain.  
  
All the booths were taken, so she decided to call Ray and the others later, there was no hurry and seeing that her parents had gone on holiday she didn't have to worry about them either. But then she remembered that her aunt Lily (A.N. I made her up) was supposed to come and look after her because her parents didn't want her to stay home alone. 'typical dad' she thought as she quickly dialed her number, it rang 12 times but still no answer she left a message in case her aunt had gone shopping or something. she decided against calling Ray, right now. 'The only thing Ray would do is scream at me anyway' she thought. She looked around at something she could do, her eyes landed on the Sailor V game. she'd play that to take her mind of things.  
  
Wrong ! she lost every single game, she didn't even get past the first level ! She cursed as the words 'GAME OVER' came up on the screen for the tenth time, that day.  
  
She turned around at the sound of clapping.  
  
"Nice. Very nice"  
  
She glared at Darien, he was standing a few paces behind her with a towel slung around his neck and another folded one, held up in his hand.  
  
"How long have you been standing there ?" Serena asked narrowing her eyes.  
  
"Long enough" Darien replied.  
  
Grabbing the towel in his hand and turning her back to him, she decided to call Ray. 'Anything is better than staying here with him!' she thought as she walked towards the phone booth. She dug into her pockets searching for a quarter. (A.N. I don't know anything about the money in Japan)  
  
"Oh no !" she groaned as she remembered that she had spent her last quarters playing the 'Sailor V' game.  
  
"Something wrong Serena ?" Andrew approached her.  
  
"Andrew, can you please lend me a quarter I need it to call Ray ? She'll have a fit if she finds out that I made absolutely no effort to call her. I'll pay you back the next time I come to the arcade, I promise !" Serena said all in one breath.  
  
"Sure thing, Serena" Andrew replied easily, pulling out a quarter from his apron.  
  
"You're a life saver Andrew !" Serena said taking the quarter and turning towards the phone booth. She quickly dialed Rays number. Ray picked up in the first ring.  
  
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ? YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO MEET US AT THE TEMPLE AN HOUR AGO !" Serena winced as Ray shouted at the phone.  
  
"Look Ray I can explain . . . . " Serena started.  
  
"WHERE ARE YOU ? I CALLED YOU AT HOME BUT NOBODY ANSWERED ?" She continued screaming.  
  
"I'm at the arcade." She groaned realizing what she had just said.  
  
"AT THE ARCADE !!!!! SERENA, WE ARE SUPPOSED TO DISCUSS SAILOR BUSINESS, BUT HOW CAN WE IF OUR LEADER DOESN'T SHOW UP !" Serena pulled the phone away from her ear, she was gonna go deaf by the end of the phone call if Ray kept screaming at her.  
  
"Ray, I got detention that's why I'm late, and you know I'm scared of thunder !" Serena said.  
  
"ISN'T IT TYPICAL YOU TO GET DETENTION YOU PROBABLY FELL ASLEEP IN CLASS AGAIN !" Serena winced at the truthfulness of Rays words, but before Serena could say anything Ray continued. "You know Serena, you haven't been to the last four meetings, we've been talking about you. We all think its best that you resign as leader and let someone more responsible can handle the job. Me for example." Ray said, suprisingly she had stopped screaming.  
  
There was a silence as the words sunk in.  
  
"what do the others think ?" Serena asked quietly.  
  
"We think its for the best, even Luna and Artimus think so." Came Amy's voice.  
  
Serena froze, 'So they were all in on this, all except me !' she thought.  
  
"YOU WRONG ! I DON'T NEED YOU ! I CAN HANDLE EVERYTHING ON MY OWN !"  
  
With that Serena hung up the phone.  
  
She leaned onto the phone booth. Tears after tears slid down her face, she tried to control herself but it was too much, she couldn't control the pain she felt.  
  
"What is it this time Meatball Head, cant stand up in your own to feet ?" Came Darien's voice.  
  
After everything that had happened today, she felt like she was gonna blow up. Slowly she turned to face Darien. For a minute she stared at his confused expression,  
  
"DARIEN, STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT !!! O.K. ? LLLEAVE MMME AAALONE !!!! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU !!!! WHY CANT YOU LET ME BE ! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO PICK ON ME !!!!!! JUST BECAUSE I'M SMALLER THAN YOU DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN PICK ON ME !!!!!!" She screamed at him, sobbing she ran out of the arcade.  
  
She faintly heard Darien calling her back. But still blinded by her tears she ran out to the street, running as fast as her feet could possibly take her.  
  
Suddenly she stopped, something wasn't right. She wiped her tears trying to clear her vision, but there was a light that just became brighter. Finally managing to see clearly what was going on, she gasped. she was standing in the middle of a road and a lorry was coming towards her, very fast. just then thunder struck. She stood paralyzed in fear like a deer in headlights unable to move. 'I'm going to die' she thought as she closed her eyes.  
  
the final thing she heard was Darien's voice, very close to her. "WATCH OUT MEATBALL HEAD" then she felt a force push her back and everything went black.  
  
*~*~*~*I know, it's a cliff hanger, if you have any comments send them to.  
  
crescentmoon_bunny@yahoo.co.uk 


	2. Chapter Two

Watch Out Meatball Head !  
  
chapter two.  
  
****************************Serena****************************  
  
'Black . . . . . everything is black . . . . . .' I thought. 'where am I ?' I didn't know because I couldn't see. I tried to move but it was like every single bone in my body weighed a ton, I didn't have much strength to move much. then I heard voices.  
  
"she's moving !!!!!" I didn't recognize the voice but it was oddly familiar.  
  
"Mina your seeing things ! she's perfectly still !" said another voice.  
  
"no, Lita really watch her closely ! she moved, I swear she moved !" said the first voice.  
  
assuming they were talking to me, I made an effort to move again, this time a bit more easily but still not able to pull myself up.  
  
"Yes ! she did move ! doctor ! she's getting up !" said the second voice.  
  
during then there was a rush, and people started talking, I could hear them but couldn't make out what they said. using every bit of the energy left in my body I opened my eyes.  
  
At first everything was white, but then I started making out a few things, but still everything was hazy. a big blur.  
  
I could make out the outline of somebody standing over me, peering at me. "yes indeed, she has gotten up. we had almost given up hope, in her ! call her parents immediately and give them the good news." he said. he was wearing a white coat, so I assumed he was a doctor, but what was I doing in a hospital ?  
  
by now my vision had cleared by I still had to squint. I could make out two girls standing by the bed next to me. a blond one, who had her hair tied back in a big red bow, the other one had brown hair tied back with a green scrunchy. their eyes were both puffy and red looking, but they were smiling at me. I looked at them startled, then my vision became blurry again.  
  
"she needs her rest, let her sleep. Why don't you girls leave and come back tomorrow ?"  
  
even before hearing their answer, my eyes closed involuntarily, and I drifted off into dreamless sleep.  
  
*************************************************************  
  
in the lobby outside Serena's room  
  
Mina was talking to the doctor, when Lita returned from making the phone calls to Serena's parents and their closest friends.  
  
"Did you call Amy and Ray ? they need to know." Mina asked.  
  
"yup, don't worry they are all happy, Amy and Ray are coming here first thing tomorrow morning, they wanted to come today but I told them that the doctor said family only, her parents of course are on there way here now, they'll be here in no time at all." Lita stated.  
  
They fell into a comfortable silence, both there thought's were filled with happiness that Serena was going to be o.k, and guilt, for saying that they didn't need her, they also partly felt that it was there fault. Andrew had filled them in, on why she had run out of the arcade.  
  
"she was speaking on the phone, she looked upset, like she was going to cry, I was going to speak to her when Darien got to her first, obviously he said something not very flattering 'cause she shouted and then ran out before anybody could react." Were Andrew's exact words.  
  
"How do you think she's going to react about Darien, it is pretty bad news" Lita said breaking the silence.  
  
Mina sighed in reply and they lapped into silence again.  
  
Their silence was interrupted when Serena's parents and her brother, Sammy, literally ran towards them. Serena's mother was very much out of breath when she reached Mina and Lita.  
  
"where's my baby, what have you done to my baby ! I want to see my baby!" she managed to shout, struggling to walk through Serena's room which was blocked by a few nurses and a very flustered looking doctor.  
  
"Excuse me ma'am but are you Mrs. Tsukino ?" he asked unnecessarily.  
  
"yes, yes NOW LET ME SEE MY BABY !!!!!!!!" compared to Serena's mother, her father was nothing. Surprisingly she didn't wake Serena by her wailing.  
  
"Shhhhhh, there are other patients here, you don't want them awake at this hour do you. Serena is fine, she needs to rest and tomorrow evening she'll be fine, I assure you, she can go home as soon as we have run some tests and see no damage, but physically she's fine, why don't you take a little peak, but don't disturb her." The doctor opened the door and let us peak, she stirred lightly but her eyes stayed closed.  
  
I recommend you all go back to your homes and have a restful sleep, I'll phone you when she's awake BUT you are not to come in unless called, do you understand ?" he addressed us in a serious manner.  
  
We nodded.  
  
But we were still reluctant to leave, Mrs. Tsukino kept asking if she could kiss Serena goodnight or at least blow her a kiss, this time the doctor didn't give in.  
  
Admitting defeat we all left, and crawled into our inviting beds in which we'd had six weeks of sleepless nights. Today though, all of them fell asleep as soon as there heads touched the pillow.  
  
*****************************Serena**************************  
  
I opened my eyes, they felt heavy. As soon as I did though, I was met by a blinding white light. I managed to make out a white figure bustling about in the room which was white too.  
  
"Ah, good morning – no I mean Good afternoon !" my eyes focused on the fugure and I had a flash of memory – 'i'm in a hospital'.  
  
" why don't I bring you a nice hot breaky?" the nurse said to me, as though I was a five year old, without waiting for my answer she left.  
  
I looked around the room, it was white clean and somehow dull except for the bedside table which was filled with get well cards and I miss you cards, next to it a bunch of red roses. She sat up and reached up to pick up one of the cards. She opened it. It read :  
  
Dear darling Serena,  
  
We miss you a lot at home  
  
Please get well soon  
  
Return to our loving  
  
And caring family  
  
Missing you terribly  
  
Your family  
  
Who is Serena, that thought startled her. Was it her ? it couldn't be . . . . . maybe they mixed up her room with someone elses. She laughed out loud.  
  
'my name's not Serena its . . . .its . . . .' she froze. The card fell from her hands onto the white bedspread.  
  
"Who am I ?" her voice echoed her thoughts.  
  
*~*~*~*another cliff hanger, send all your comments to Crescentmoon_bunny@yahoo.co.uk 


	3. Chapter Three

Watch Out Meatball Head !  
  
Chapter Three  
  
*************************** Serena****************************  
  
I let the card drop from my hand onto the white hospital bedspread. I felt numb with shock, 'how could I not remember my name ?' I tried to force a memory of something in to my brain, something about my family, friends or even something about myself . . . . . . but every thing was blank. I wondered if I even had a family.  
  
I was still siting on the bed trying to think up a past memory, when the nurse entered, she was carrying a tray of what looked like hospital food.  
  
"now here, sweety, eat all of it, you need your strength ! your parents and friends are going to want to see a very healthy girl. The more you eat the healthier you'll get, and that means you can go home soon !" she said in a singsong voice, as she placed the tray on my lap. Despite her I sighed with relief, so I did after all have a family and friends.  
  
The nurse started walking around the room straightening the table and dusting everything with a duster, singing 'with a spoon full of sugar' I think she was trying to be the new age Mary Poppins ! I froze. I knew who Mary Poppins was – but I didn't know anything at all about my parents, whether I had a brother or sister, or who was my best friend ?  
  
suddenly, the nurse turned and looked at me queerly. "You don't look like your hungry for a girl who has been in a coma for two weeks." I paled at that news. I felt questions float through my mind. 'why was I in hospital ?' 'why couldn't I remember anything at all ?'  
  
while I pondered over these questions the nurse had fled from the room to get a doctor, worried that something was wrong.  
  
I was still frozen in the spot my untouched breakfast on my lap when a doctor came in followed by the confused nurse.  
  
"good morning Serena !" he said cheerfully.  
  
"is that my name ?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.  
  
The doctor didn't flinch as the nurse did. Instead he said "yes it is. We need to run some tests on you, o.k. ? your parents we'll be called in, and you can go home as soon as we get the results from the test. Until then I suggest you eat and stay healthy." He smiled at me. He walked over to the end of my bed and picked up the clipboard and made some notes.  
  
"What happened to me ? why am I here ? Why can't I remember anything ?" my voice trembled, slightly.  
  
"I think your parents will fill you in with the details if you must know, but you were in an accident. It could have been much worse if your hero hadn't pushed you out of the way. All the rest of your questions will be answered later on, don't you worry your pretty little head off." With a kind smile he disappeared out of the door. And so did all my chances of getting any answers.  
  
"I wonder who was my hero ?" I said out loud, forgetting that that the nurse was still standing there.  
  
"I'm not supposed to tell you this but, the boy that saved your life ? well he left the hospital a few days ago, his name is Darien Chiba. He has amnesia too, cant remember a damn thing. But he is gorgeous ! if you ask me, you're a lucky little thing to have such a hunk to be your knight in the shining armor !" she said giggling.  
  
I frowned at her, despite all the information she had given me. For one – I didn't think I was lucky, but I couldn't help but wonder about this hero of mine …….  
  
***************************Andrew****************************  
  
I frowned at my best friend. It had been a few days since Darien had come out of the hospital, but I might have been a stranger for all he cared ! I had taken a week off, trying to get a memory into Dariens thick skulled head. But nothing had worked. My best friend still had amnesia and had no idea that he had saved the life of his enemy, let alone that I, Andrew, was his best friend.  
  
He was sitting in front of me, staring off into space, while I wiped the counter. The bell on the arcade door jingled signaling me that customers had arrived. I looked up, four girls had entered the arcade. Lita, Amy, Mina and Ray all of them Serena's closest friends.  
  
"Hey girls, seen Serena yet ?" I asked, walking around the counter towards them.  
  
Mina shook her head. "Not yet, we went to her house and her parents were just leaving to the hospital. They said the hospital called asking them to come in. they were worried." She didn't look very thrilled.  
  
"Do you guys know what's up ?" they all shook there head.  
  
"How is he ?" Ray stepped out, nodding towards Darien.  
  
"He still has amnesia if that's what you mean, doesn't remember a thing." I replied.  
  
"Maybe we can help ?" Amy said. "I mean, I did some research and according to what I found out, we are supposed to take him to places and remind him of things he said and did. And he did see us almost everyday, so I think that if we talked to him, it might spark out a memory." She said.  
  
"I did that, took a week off . . . . . didn't help. But if you can do better – be my guest." I said. As I walked back around the counter while the girls introduced themselves to a very confused looking Darien.  
  
***************************Serena*****************************  
  
I was siting in an office, waiting to meet my parents – parents that I've known for 15 years.  
  
The door opened and I stood up. The doctor came in followed by a man, a woman and a little boy. As soon as the man and the woman saw me they ran up to me and started hugging and kissing me. . . . . . I assumed they were my parents. I didn't quite know how to react.  
  
After they had calmed down. And were sitting down, next to me the doctor began speaking. "Mr. And Mrs. Tsukino I have some bad news for you, as I said your daughter will have no memory of who she is – a common case of amnesia. When she was pushed out of the way, she banged her head on the pavement, like the boy, Darien Chiba, she has no memory of what happened. We have run some tests and I have just received the results, I was able to have a quick look through them, and they have confirmed that she is in perfect health condition. However she is to be kept over night – just in case. You do not have to worry about anything at all." He said.  
  
He started talking about the history of amnesia and such cases like these, but my mind wondered to the little boy who was sitting next to me, he hadn't said a word to me. He looked no less than ten years old, if not older. He must have felt my glance because he turned and looked at me.  
  
"who are you ?" I whispered.  
  
"You really don't remember ?" he whispered back. I shook my head.  
  
He looked at me suspiciously for a minute then replied. "Sammy. . . . . I'm your brother" I looked at my mother and then back at him. He got the message. While my parents and the doctor spoke Sammy, gave me every detail about my parents and myself.  
  
At dawn the next day . . . . . .  
  
I had spoken to my doctor, and he had said that all I needed to do is to go places I used to, and be reminded of things. My dad, had gone home and bought a big stack of photo albums that I could look through, I had looked through them, but they hadn't triggered any memories at all. Today, I would be going home, my parents had told me that they would come to pick me up. I had asked about my friends, the only information they gave me was that I could see for myself, because they were going to come and see me at home.  
  
I starred at the blank ceiling. In a few hours I was going to see my friends, I couldn't help but wonder if the guy who saved my life was a friend of mine, or my boyfriend even.  
  
I couldn't ask my parents, stuff like theses were strictly friends only. And I couldn't wait to talk to my friends. I finally got up from the hospital bed and started getting dressed. I had requested for some clothes along with the albums my dad had bought me. Then I started walking around the collecting the 'get well' and 'I miss you' cards, the teddy bears, and the magazines, and books sent from my friends. I stopped when I saw a brooch, a pen and a little device that looked like a calculator (A.N. her transformation brooch, her transformation pen and her communicator.) they were beautiful. I wondered if they were mine. I picked up the brooch. I had a flash back as my hand made contact with the smooth metal.  
  
~ FLASH BACK  
  
"for love and for justice, I am sailor moon ! and in the name of the moon I shall punish you !" I starred in amazement as I watched myself transform into . . . . Sailor moon ?  
  
~ End of FLASH BACK  
  
I gasped in surprise, and let the brooch fall from my hand.  
  
CLANK  
  
I looked at it lying on the clean hospital floor. What had I seen ? was this one of the flash backs the doctor had talked about ? the one's that would give back my memory ?  
  
"Your up early." I was pulled out of her trance when the voice spoke. I turned around and found myself facing a nurse. She smiled and walked towards my bed and picked up the clip board.  
  
She laughed "I should have guessed ! you're going home ! well cant let you going home unhealthy, can we ? any requests for breakfast ?" she said.  
  
I starred at her in amazement. 'since when do they ask what the patient wants?'  
  
"new policy – in the last day of the patients stay we make them whatever they want." She said laughing again at my stunned face.  
  
"oh . . . I couldn't possibly have blueberry pancakes – could I ?" I asked.  
  
"coming right up." She said disappearing out of the doorway.  
  
'I didn't even know I liked blueberry pancakes.' I sighed and picked up the fallen brooch. I hesitated a little before touching it. Nothing happened. No more flash backs.  
  
I looked at the pen and calculator thingy, I took them and slipped them into by pocket. Deciding that I'll figure what they are later.  
  
Later on in the morning . . . . . .  
  
My parents and my brother had arrived they were talking to the doctor, I had gathered my stuff, and was waiting impatiently for them to return. I decided to look around the room one final time to make sure I hadn't left anything behind, not that I knew what I was looking for. I opened the first two drawers, and looked at them they were empty, like I had left them a few minutes ago. I didn't know what I was looking for – I opened the third and was a bout to close it when I saw something in the corner of my eye. I opened the drawer a bit more, sure enough a star locket lay there, attached to a gold chain. I picked it up. Nothing happened. I don't know why I expected something to happen – but I had. I slipped it around my neck.  
  
"Ready to go home, Honey ?" I stood up turned around to face my father.  
  
"I'm ready." I smiled.  
  
In my room . . . . . .  
  
It had taken three trips from my hospital room to the car to bring all the stuff that had been sent from every body, but my dad didn't complain. My mum had talked cheerfully throughout the trip home, she told me about my cat, Luna, about my best friend, Molly, and of course about myself. I never managed to ask her about the boy who saved my life. I did bring up the accident but she quickly changed the subject so I decided that it was best if I asked my friends. I didn't say anything about my flash back on sailor moon either. I thought it would be best if I kept to myself, and I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to bring it up, among my friends either.  
  
I looked around my room, it was pink and was kept quite neatly. I got up and walked towards my closet, and opened it, my glance wondered pass the hanging clothes. 'where would be the best place to hide something, nobody else would find ? like say, a diary ?' my gaze was caught by a shoe box, in the corner of the closet, I pushed passed the clothes and grabbed the shoe box. Could it be the key to unlock my memory ? as I starred at the plain shoe box something caught my eye, before I could turn around to examine my discovery, their was a cry and something lashed at my hand holding the shoe box scratching me and making me drop my hold on the box. I tried to grab it before it fell but I lost my balance and fell back banging my head on the side of the bed.  
  
*~*~*~* ^_^ don't I just love suspense !!! mail me at crescentmoon_bunny@yahoo.co.uk if you have any suggestions. 


	4. Chapter Four

1 Watch Out Meatball Head  
  
Chapter four  
  
  
  
*****************************Mina****************************  
  
1.1 We, Lita, Amy, Ray and me, were standing at Serena's door step, we had knocked on the door and were waiting for someone to answer it. Her mother had called telling us not to come by the hospital but to come by their house instead, she also explained Serena's 'condition'. we were nervous and were going through last minute details.  
  
"Remember girls, she doesn't remember anything at all. Her mum said she has a case of amnesia." Amy said.  
  
I burst out laughing, I couldn't help it . . . "remember girls she doesn't remember anything". . . . . the other's looked at me as though I was crazy.  
  
"I cant help it, it's the situation ! I'm nervous . . !" I protested.  
  
Before any of them could reply, the door opened. Her mother was standing by the door, he face was happier than it had looked in days.  
  
"hi Mrs., Tsukino" we chorused.  
  
"well hello girls, come on in" she said her smile growing wider.  
  
Before we could step in or even answer her, we were interrupted by a cry, in fact a very familiar cry. . . . . Serena ? . . . . we had heard her bump into things fall, slip many times, and I would recognize that cry anywhere. Her cry was soon followed by a thump and a bump. Obviously, Mrs. Tsukino knew it was Serena because she gave a similar cry and rushed up the stairs leaving us standing at the door way, our mouths hanging open.  
  
"My baby ! my baby !" she yelled as she stampeded up the stairs.  
  
I was the first one to recover from the shock.  
  
"come on guys snap out of it !" I called to them as I rushed up the stairs at the exact speed Serena's mother had. I was followed by equally fast girls.  
  
We arrived at the top of the stairs to find Mrs. Tsukino frozen in the spot at Serena's doorway. We quickly moved towards her to find her staring at a body, a very familiar looking blond haired girl lying in a puddle of red . . . .blood ?. . . . . Serena. . . .  
  
****************************Darien****************************  
  
at the park . . . . .  
  
I was standing near an empty bench looking at the still lake, which turned orange as the sun began to set. I didn't know why I was here, but it was so calm every thing was still . . . . almost as though it was unreal. Since the accident, I couldn't remember anything, and Andrew had taken me around, I hadn't paid much attention then but what had caught my attention was this park he had taken me to. Since he had bought me here, I've been coming every day. I didn't know anything about myself, what Andrew had been able to tell me was what you'd tell a friend. "You're an everyday hunk, but you pick books over girls ! BUT there was one girl you paid attention to, Serena . . ." he also filled me in with the details of the faithful day I had lost my memory. Serena Tsukino, I had saved the girls life apparently. The girl I paid attention to. Some how there was something wrong – I didn't know who Serena was, or anything about her for that matter. But I felt like something was missing, something about her . . . Andrew hadn't been very helpful when I'd asked him about her. "she's in the hospital, in coma. I went to visit her yesterday but no improvement." He had replied all misty eyed. He always avoided the subject and looked pained when I talked about her. But I had always refused to go, when ever he invited me to go with him to the hospital. The same strings of thoughts went through my mind, when I thought of her. 'I saved her life, but it looks like she's going to die anyway.' Not very pleasant thoughts. I also was surprised when I found out that I could remember things like TV programs, but didn't anybody from anywhere. (A.n. I don't know if there is such a thing as that kind of amnesia but I need it for my story, so pretend that there is.) it didn't help that I was an orphan. A few days ago I had also seen her photo along side of mine in a newspaper. A smiling girl with lively blue eyes, a bright smile that said 'I'm happy and there's nothing you can do to change it' and her long blond hair tied up in meatballs on each side of her head. As I had looked at the picture I had had a flash back, the kind that the doctor said I would start getting, when my memory would start to return. I had seen my self near the girl and heard myself say 'hey meatball head, failed any tests lately ?' I stared at her pained expression that was quickly covered by anger. Then the flash back ended as quickly as it had begun. But the girls pained expression stayed in my mind, and appeared in my sleepless nights since then. I also asked Andrew about the girls relationship towards me, he had avoided my eyes and told me that we were just friends, I didn't ask anymore questions but I knew there was something he wasn't telling me. According to Andrew no one had seen what had happened, except an old lady, and the actual truck driver, I had read many newspapers trying to get information about myself, and the accident, but I couldn't help but feel blamed for her state. ' I should have been careful' I kept saying to myself, but nothing changed. Then of course, there was those girls . . . there names were something along the lines of Emy, Raya, Mini, and Loti (Amy, Ray, Mina, Lita) they had caught me, at the arcade and started talking about what was supposed to be events of my life. I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice the figure darting towards me in a hurry nor did I know how to react when I felt a hand firmly being placed on my shoulder. I swung in instinct to catch the person off guard, intending to hit him in the face. It was too late to stop my swinging fist from hitting him In the jaw, when I recognized who it was, but I managed to slow the amount force I put into it. But it still knocked him out, as soon as my fist made contact with his jaw.  
  
*~*~*~* you should have learnt by now that all my chapters end in suspense ! ! if you have any suggestions on how I should end my story, please write to me at crescentmoon_bunny@yahoo.co.uk and give suggestions. And feel free to tell me what I could add to improve it ! I'll try as hard as I can to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. 


	5. Chapter Five

1 "Watch Out Meatball Head !"  
  
1.1 Chapter 5  
  
****************************Serena****************************  
  
dark ……………… everything was black. i heard distant voices, or yells maybe. i opened my eyes and instantly a fuzzy picture came into focus. I was in a crowded room. People were rushing about all over the place.  
  
"is she gonna be alright ?"  
  
"I'll go and call a doctor"  
  
"I'm going to get her a glass of water"  
  
why were they speaking so loudly I thought, as there voices echoed through my mind. I shook my head trying to block there voices, the only good that did was trigger a sharper pain in the corner of my head. I winced. I closed my eyes, trying unsuccessfully to stop the feeling of the pain from searing all over my body. I felt someone pick me up and the next thing I knew was that I was lying in my bed again. I felt a warm cloth being pressed against my forehead.  
  
"I hit my head I don't have a fever, you know" I managed to say groggily.  
  
"she's awake !" there were squeals. I winced again.  
  
I finally pried open my eyes, my mother was kneeling on the floor by my bed tears streaming down her face. The blue haired girl was standing over me holding the warm wet cloth looking embarrassed. The other three girls were all huddled over my mother. They squealed again, realizing I was awake.  
  
"Please don't be so loud" I said. They were all silent for a minute, and I couldn't help but think that if these girls were my friends I was doing a good job of pushing them away. Then my mum started crying again.  
  
"its all my fault !" she said. "I put that there, I shouldn't have. It was supposed to be that near shampoo, to make you feel better not for you to slip and fall and hit your head again !" she sobbed.  
  
I looked around and realized that I was covered in pink goo. Rose smelling pink goo. I wrinkled my nose, at the strong smell. Well at least I smelt nice. I pushed myself up into a sitting position using my elbows.  
  
I looked over at my pink carpeted floor which was now smeared with pink shampoo. And something that appeared to be white powder ? I must have knocked the shampoo over when I had lost my balance, one thing was sure I hadn't slipped.  
  
"I didn't slip" I said. My mother stopped crying, they all looked at me questioningly. "I lost my balance, because I was scratched. Probably some wild animal" I said examining my wrist, sure enough it had a red mark of scratches going across it.  
  
"Wild animal ?" the blond haired girl asked. "you must be talking about Luna!" she said.  
  
"Luna?" I frowned.  
  
"Yeah," she laughed "your pet cat, but she would never scratch you"  
  
'meow' I looked in the direction of the meow, sure enough a black cat sat in the corner of my window, looking … sorry ?  
  
"what were you doing with her litter box anyway ?" the black haired girl asked.  
  
"litter box ? what litter box ?" I snapped my attention back at the girls. We starred at each other for a second. Everything was starting to make sense now. . . . . the white shoe box I had taken had been the cats litter box, thinking that it would have a key to unlock my memories ! when I had taken the litter box it had upseted Luna, the cat ! the girls and I starred at each other for a few more seconds as the situation dawned to us.  
  
Then we all burst out laughing hysterically !!! it felt good to laugh. Even my mum was laughing ! when we all calmed down, my mum got up and offered to go and prepare some snacks. The girls sat down in various places in my room. And an uncomfortable silence took over us as we all thought of something to say.  
  
****************************Darien****************************  
  
my fist made contact with a jaw. I watched helplessly as the boy fell to the ground. I panicked as I starred at the body, I had just hit my so called best friend. My face palled as the truth dawned to me. I killed that girl and now my best friend. I didn't deserve to live. I starred at Andrew, he was lying with his back on the ground, a trail of blood glistened as it trailed down his cheek. That was the last straw. Something inside me snapped, at that instant. I just turned around and ran, I didn't know where I was going or what I was accomplishing from running, all I knew was that I had to get away – away from all this unfamiliar things.  
  
*****************************Andrew**************************  
  
one minute I was tapping my best friend on the shoulder the next minute I was lying on the ground, from receiving a blow from my best friend. Everything had happened so fast, they didn't register at first. Then I felt something cold and soft against my cheek. I pried open my eyes, and found myself starring at an old lady, about 60 with white hair. She was crouched next to me and holding a handkerchief against my cheek. I groaned and slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position.  
  
"don't move dear, you might have broken a bone." The lady said. Trying to push me back down.  
  
"uhh no I'm fine. Really." I said wiping the corner of my mouth. 'I'd only received one blow for gods sake. Not got run over by a truck.' I instantly felt bad. The lady was only trying to help me. I slowly got up, and flexed my feet. They were fine. I bent my arms, they were o.k., I was fine except for my jaw, which felt like I had a golf ball stuck in it. I smiled painfully at the lady.  
  
"Really I'm fine." I repeated. Then after telling her again not to worry, I turned away from her concerned face and walked away from the park. I didn't know where Darien had gone, but I was going over to Serena's house. I knew that she was going to be home today, and that all her friends were going to be there too. I'd come to the park in the 1st place because I knew Darien was going to be there. I'd thought that he'd like to come with me over to Serena's and celebrate with us, but I knew that that wasn't going to happen in a hurry. Not today anyway.  
  
I didn't know what to make of what Darien had done. One thing was sure, I wasn't mad at him – I knew he hadn't done it on purpose. The look on his face when he realized who he was going to hit, said it all. I could forgive him, I just hope he could forgive himself.  
  
******************************Serena**************************  
  
I was feeling very happy, I was sitting around in the living room joking about with my friends, my mum had gotten us our snacks and was now shopping in the supermarket, which means she'd be gone for at least 2 and a half hours (the supermarket is a half hours drive away). It wasn't easy convincing my mum but Ray was good at that. She told my mum that I would be fine as long as someone was with me at all times. We fell into a comfortable silence. We'd talked about absolutely everything, everything except for the accident. I also wanted to ask them about the brooch and the calculator thingy (communicator). No time like the present I thought.  
  
I opened my mouth to ask them, but I was interrupted by the doorbell.  
  
"I'll get it" I said getting up instantly. They exchanged a quick look, then nodded.  
  
"We'll be in the back yard." Mina said. (A.N. I don't even know if Serena has a back yard, but pretend she does)  
  
I walked into the hall way and towards the door. I opened it, and gasped out loud. And without thinking I uttered his name out loud.  
  
*~*~*~* yup ! you guessed it another chapter ending in suspense ! as you're reading this I'm working on my next chapter, I'll post as soon as I'm done. And I bet your thinking the guy at the door is Darien !!! well it could be ….. or not ! you'll have to wait and find out ! 


	6. Chapter Six

1 Watch Out Meatball Head  
  
Chapter Six  
  
*****************************Serena***************************  
  
I let out a gasp of surprise. "Andrew" I repeated. He was standing in front of me, a trickle of blood trailing down his chin.  
  
"Serena ?" his brow wrinkled in confusion. "Did you get your memory back this soon ?" he asked me. I shook my head slowly. He frowned at my answer. "is anyone else around ?" he asked, still frowning. Before I could reply or nod, Ray appeared at my shoulder.  
  
"Hey Andrew ! Serena let him in ! he's a friend don't worry – oh god Andrew ! you're bleeding !." Ray said pushing me aside and letting Andrew in.  
  
He starred at me, looking uncomfortable for some reason. "Ray wait" he said wiping his chin using the sleeve of his white shirt which was already caked with dry blood. "how did you recognize me Serena, if you still haven't got your memory back ?" Ray froze at that point.  
  
She turned around and looked me in the eye. "she recognized you ? Serena do you know who Andrew is ? did you get your memory back ?" she asked.  
  
I starred at her. Letting the words sink in. then I shook my head. For some reason I felt tears trickle down my cheek. 'why was I crying ?' I didn't know.  
  
Ray sighed in exasperation. A look of annoyance crossed her face. She took me in arm and Andrew in the other and dragged us into the living room, muttering something that sounded like 'here she goes again, the crybaby' everyone appeared at the living room, to see what was going on. Ray took charge.  
  
"o.k. guys we got two problems, lets take care of Andrew first and then see about Serena. Amy go get the bandages in the bathroom, Lita go find a cloth and Mina go get a bowl of hot water. We need to clean Andrew up." She turned to us. "You two sit down on the sofa." She said. We both walked up to the sofa and flopped down, without complaining. I closed my eyes and leaned against the sofa trying to clear my mind.  
  
******************************Darien**************************  
  
I didn't know what to think of myself. I'd killed two people in less than a month. I wouldn't be surprised if I went back to my apartment and found the police surrounding it. What I couldn't bare most of all was the guilt – I could've checked on Andrew he might have not even been dead. After all I had only punched him. But the worse bit was that instead of staying there and helping Andrew I had run off. A coward, that's what I was. As I my run slowed into a walk I realized that I was back at the park, I didn't know how long I had been running, or how far I'd run. But I had returned to the exact same spot. I fought the urge to turn and run away again. Instead I walked over to the bridge crossing over the river. I leaned against it and closed my eyes. Letting the remaining heat rays of the sunset seep into my skin.  
  
****************************Serena****************************  
  
when I finally opened my eyes, Amy and Ray had gotten Andrew cleaned up. I sighed, listening to Andrew tell us the story of how his best friend, 'Darien', had hit him unintentionally and then run off.  
  
"Hey wait a second, isn't Darien the guy who saved my life ?" I interrupted.  
  
The girls and Andrew nodded. An uncomfortable silence fell among us.  
  
"So Serena, are you ready to tell us how you recognized Andrew ?" Lita asked. I frowned, I didn't exactly know the answer to that question myself.  
  
"I don't know," I said honestly "when he came in, his name sort of popped out of my mouth. You know – I wasn't exactly thinking it, it just came ……" my voice trailed off. I looked at them hopefully.  
  
"it could be that her subconscious was working, like it does when your not aware of what is taking place. It replaces her mind, and her old loss of memory is unaware that her subconscious is giving her these thoughts, and it quickly snaps back to her awareness. Leaving her confused." Amy said. (A.N. I am desperately trying to sound like Amy here – and I know what I've just written makes absolutely no sense ! but then again, Amy makes no sense at all most of the time !). The girls and Andrew starred at Amy blankly. Amy sighed. "Its all got to do with the way the mind functions – when its at rest and when the subconscious takes over." She tried to explain. We all stared at Amy again. "As soon as Serena saw Andrew, his name must've just popped out of her mouth – automatically. As soon as she said his name, she realized she had no idea who he is." Amy practically yelled in annoyance. A chorus of 'oh's followed that statement. Then a silence settled among us again, but this time it was a comfortable silence. All of us were deep in thought, with our own theories. But my mind was still focused on why 'Darien' had hit Andrew. Our thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door been unlocked. All our heads turned as my mum entered the living room her arms filled with grocery bags. Her eyes scanned us quickly – as if to check if we were alright – then landed on Andrew. "oh hello Andrew, I didn't know you were going to be coming over." She exclaimed. "oh, I didn't plan on it either, it was sort of last minute." He said looking uneasy.  
  
"Why don't we go out" I said suddenly, sitting up. "you guys can show me where we used to hang out, and maybe we can have some ice cream." The words popped out of my mouth even before I thought them through.  
  
"oh I don't think that's a very good idea, you still need to rest Serena and anyway, its almost dinner time and ice cream before dinner is never a good idea, it'll spoil your appetite." My mum said, knowingly.  
  
"o.k. well may be we could go after dinner." I said. My mum shook her head, unconvinced. "it'll be too cold and dark, dear. We wouldn't want you to be sick so soon after you came home from hospital." She replied. "tomorrow then ?" I asked desperately. She shook her head again. "Not yet Serena, after a few days maybe I'll think about it. Now girls, would one of you mind giving me a hand with these groceries." She said Disappearing into the kitchen. Ray got up and followed her. I slumped back into the sofa, defeated. At this rate I wasn't going to be leaving the house until I was thirty. Nor was I going to be getting my memory back. I had to find a way to go out – with out my parents or friends. I just had to. But how could I possibly make it happen ? there was only one answer to that question – I had to sneak out. That was the only answer to my problems, then I could somehow look around and maybe even find out something about the 'Darien' guy. Maybe.  
  
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(A.n. I bet you thought I was going to end this chapter here ! nope, I'm gonna keep writing !)  
  
*********************************Serena***********************  
  
At night in Serena's house. (her friends have left, promising to come and visit the next day. Her parents are sound asleep in their room, thinking that there daughter was asleep in hers . . . they couldn't be more wrong !)  
  
I quickly looked up at my black Luna-look-alike alarm clock, it read 2:14. Time to set my plan into action. I crept out from under my bed covers and slipped my pajamas off. The night before I had prepared the clothes I was going to wear for my little 'late night' outing – black jeans, black shirt, and black boots. I slipped into those clothes and examined myself in my mirror, I looked o.k. but I was faced with one problem. My hair. I frowned, what could I do to keep it out of the way ? I couldn't cut it off, that would be a bit too drastic even for me. I quickly pulled my hair up and piled it on top o my head. Now I needed something to cover it, something like a . . . . baseball cap ! unfortunately I didn't own any baseball caps ! but I knew who did. I slipped out of my room and tiptoed across the hallway to Sammy's room, luckily his door was ajar. I pushed it open, and crawled in. I frowned when I saw the mess his room was in, 'I wouldn't be able to find a car hidden in here !' I thought looking at the piles of clothed and dirty socks and dishes. 'if I was Sammy, where would I keep my baseball caps ?' I wandered. I made my way across the room, looking around for a hint of a baseball cap. Suddenly something caught my foot and I fell flat on my face.  
  
'Thud'  
  
I tried hard not to yell out in pain, but that was hard when you had a pointy toy sticking up on to your stomach. I groaned and rolled over onto my back. Holding my breath I waited for Sammy or my parents o get up, and discover me. Nothing. I sighed in relief, looks like they hadn't heard me after all. Still lying on my back I reached down to see what tripped me up. I clapped my hands over my mouth to keep from laughing, I had tripped over a baseball cap ! a black baseball cap ! suddenly I felt like I was acting a part in a James Bond movie. After I secured the cap over my hair , I slipped out of Sammy's room and into my own. Then I opened my back pack to check the stuff I had prepared to take, a flash light, map, a jumper, a spare set of keys to the house, black gloves, a bottle of mineral water, a digital alarm clock watch (Serena's p.o.v. which I borrowed from Sammy !) a newspaper (with Dariens picture in it) and a tiny portable first aid kit. I set the alarm clock watch just before five, I couldn't risk getting caught. I arranged the pillows on my bed so it still looked as thought i was asleep on it. I slipped my gloves and opened my bedroom window, and peered out. There was a tree next to my bedroom so it would be easy for me to slip out without jumping out of the window itself and breaking my neck. I easily slipped from the frame of my window into the tree and closed the window. Now the tricky bit was actually getting down from the tree. 'I can do this' I thought as I wrapped my arms around the tree trunk. I slid one foot to a branch below, then the other and stood up still holding onto the trunk, ' this is easy' I thought as I repeated my strategy over and over. I looked down, I was pretty close to the ground, I was about six feet high up. I looked down again – something was wrong. My eyes widened when I realized what was wrong, there were no branches left !! I'd have to jump six feet down ! 'I can do this. I can do this' I muttered over and over as I slid from the branch and wrapped both my legs around the trunk. Suddenly I lost my grip and I was sliding down the trunk.  
  
'THUD BUMP' I let out a little squeak as my butt bounced on the grass.  
  
"ohh.. my day has to get better than this" I murmured as I rubbed my butt.  
  
*******************************Darien*************************  
  
I had to admit when Andrew first showed me my apartment, it had taken me by surprise. I had expected to live in a house with a great family, who were worried about me. But I think one of the hardest thing in my entire life was learning for the second time in my life that my parents had died in a car crash when i was six. That had just made me realize that I had nothing worth living for, no family or relatives and from today no friends. That's why I got up in the middle of the night to go for a walk in the park. To think. Obviously I hadn't told Andrew lots of things about my life. So when I lost my memory I lost a lot – I lost little memories that meant a lot for me, memories of my parents, my mums perfume and what she was like. Its like I was reborn but to live the exact same life. The walk didn't clear my or make me fell any better, so I stopped and sat on a bench facing the lake. Waiting . . . . . . and waiting . . . . for something to come back. But nothing came.  
  
******************************Serena**************************  
  
after I managed to fall my butt again, things started getting better. I even managed to find an open ice cream cart ! after getting my ice cream, I walked around town, the street lights were the only lights on, most of the shops were closed except for a few late – open café's. I didn't want to be seen hanging around empty streets all alone, specially by drunken men, so I walked in shadows. As I walked my thoughts changed. For some reason it was really important for me to find out who was the guy who saved my life. So far all I knew about him was that his name was 'Darien'. I hadn't had time to ask any of my friends, because of all that's happened between Andrew and Darien. I stopped suddenly realizing that I had been walking for sometime and I didn't know where I was. I was at the entrance of a park. I knew better than go to a park alone in the middle of the night – but before I knew it I was walking through the entrance of the park. I frowned, knowing that what I was doing wasn't a very good idea. I walked into a little clearing, it was dark but the silvery moon lit up the lake. I sighed in surprise.  
  
In the corner of my eye I noticed a sudden movement, but before I could move an inch, I felt a sudden force push me back, tripping me over. I yelped in surprise as my attacker tumbled down on top of me . . .  
  
*~*~*~* I'm gonna stop now !!!! you'll have to wait and find out if Serena's o.k. (but I guess if Serena died there wouldn't be a plot … right ??) !!! but if you got any comments about how my story is – or how I could improve it write to crescentmoon_bunny@yahoo.co.uk I welcome all comments ! (when I said I welcome all comments I don't exactly want you to insult my fic . . . . you wouldn't right ??) 


	7. Chapter Seven

1 "Watch Out Meatball Head !"  
  
2 Chapter Seven  
  
******************************Serena**************************  
  
I gasped in surprise. I struggled to sit up, and push the guy off me at the same time. But instead we both rolled over getting alarmingly closer to the river bank. I knew that I didn't want to end up wet – 'I'll get him off guard' I thought. So I went limp in his arms. I was right.  
  
The instant I stopped struggling so did he, he turned to look at me. And I found myself starring into piercing blue eyes. at that moment all thoughts of escaping flew from my mind. He rolled of me and sat up, pinning my arms down.  
  
"What do you think your trying to do ?" he asked me raising his eyebrows, in disbelief. For some reason I felt mad at him. Specially at his expression.  
  
"what are you talking about !! you're the one who attacked me !!" I practically yelled out. He looked a bit taken aback but recovered quickly.  
  
"you're the one sneaking around scaring people to death." He said increasing the pressure on my arms.  
  
"please let me go . . . I didn't mean to scare you, I was just taking a walk and then- 'sob' –then I saw the –'sob' –the lake--." I managed to say before I burst into tears.  
  
Suddenly he let go of my wrists and pulled me into a sitting position and then I felt enveloped in warmth. I opened my eyes and blinked trying to clear my blurred vision. He was hugging me ! I didn't pull back, it was comforting to be hugged. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. You were dressed in black and I assumed you were a mugger something . . . I'm sorry" he said rocking me back and forth, trying to calm me down.  
  
It was very calming. I closed my eyes. The rocking stopped, I looked up and found myself starring into those eyes again. Suddenly I felt something jolt through my body.  
  
FLASH BACK  
  
"Serenity I promise you, I will protect you no matter what ! I love you, so much . . "  
  
"I love you too" said Serenity.  
  
He wrapped his arms around serenity and leaned forward and kissed her . . . .  
  
END OF FLASH BACK  
  
I gasped out loud. What I just saw was me and . . him ?? I was so confused. I raised my eyes and found myself starring into an equally confused pair of eyes. We starred at each other for a moment. Then he reached up and pulled the baseball cap off my head, my hair came tumbling down.  
  
"it is you." He said his voice barely a whisper.  
  
"who are you ?" we asked at the same time. I pulled back from his embrace, and looked at him.  
  
****************************Darien****************************  
  
'she couldn't be' I thought. 'It cant be her.' But it was her. The blond girl, the girl that I thought I had killed, not only that but she also was the girl in the flash back I just had. 'serenity ?'  
  
she looked at me confused 'serenity ? my … my names Serena' she said. Serena . . . I've heard that name before. . . Serena . . . that was it !!!  
  
"Serena Tsukino !??" I asked amazed. She looked at me uncertain.  
  
"well-." She started, but I cut her off by reaching over to her and hugging her again.  
  
"you're alive ! I thought I'd killed you !" I told her.  
  
She struggled in my grasp, but I was too strong for her. "well if you didn't kill me then, you're gonna kill me now ! let me go, I need to breath !" her muffled voice came. I let her go reluctantly. At least now I knew that the girl wasn't dead.  
  
She tilted her head, uncertain. "what did you mean when you said you thought you'd killed me ?" she asked.  
  
"well," I started. "I don't know exactly what happened, but what the doctors and newspaper say is that well you were going to get run over by a truck and I jumped and pushed you aside, in the last minute. The only bad thing is that . . ." my voice trailed off. She waited expectantly for me to finish. "I . . . I've lost my memory . . .and I don't know who I am" I finished quietly. I finally looked up. She was starring at the lake, a distant look in her eyes.  
  
"me too, I have no idea of who I am. My parents want to keep me inside the house, and never let me go anywhere. My friends won't say anything about me. And I keep getting weird flash backs about people I don't know." She sighed.  
  
"at least you have a family that cares about you, and you have parents that are there for you. And they are all still alive !" I snapped sharply at her. She looked taken aback for a minute.  
  
"what do you mean, exactly ?" she asked. I didn't know why but I found myself telling her about my pathetic life, my only friend and my dead parents. She listened quietly.  
  
When I had finished we both remained quiet. A sudden thought occurred to me. "you said your parents wouldn't let you out of the house ?" I questioned.  
  
She looked embarrassed. "well they didn't. not exactly. I uhh… I kinda sneaked out" she said. I turned sharply to stare at her.  
  
"are you saying no one knows your here ? have you completely lost your mind ??" I cried out jumping onto my feet.  
  
She flushed. "I . . . I was . . I was just-." She stammered.  
  
"what if I wasn't here ? what if you were hurt or mugged ?" I cried out, still on the roll. "what if –." I was interrupted by a light beeping sound.  
  
I looked around, I glanced at Serena. She seemed as confused as I was. Suddenly she shot up onto her feet. "oh my god !!" she cried out. Before quickly turning her back to me and rushing out of the park, leaving me even more confused.  
  
*~*~*~* That's what I've got so far, if you have any ideas on what I can do next e mail me at crescentmoon_bunny@yahoo.co.uk (I'm getting fed up at saying that – but u know – mail me !) so anyway don't worry I can 'almost' promise you that, that beeping noise isn't a bomb about to go off . . . I said almost ! 


	8. Chapter Eight

"Watch Out Meatball Head !"  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
***************************** Serena ***********************************  
  
I can't believe I forgot the time! Pulling the alarm clock out of my bag and switching it off, I prayed that my parents hadn't discovered my empty bed. When I reached my house, I quickly slipped into the back garden. Once I had caught my breath, I starred up the tree I had come down in, and groaned. There was a big gap between me and the last branch and it would be impossible to even attempt going up.  
  
Suddenly a thought occurred to me, I had the keys to the house and even though it would be too risky to sneak in through the front door, it would be easier and it wouldn't make much noise if I went through the back. Triumphantly, I made my way towards the backdoor. I quickly unlocked the backdoor and stepped inside. My smile instantly froze as I saw who was standing in front of me………..  
  
********************************Darien**********************************  
  
I got up from where I was sitting in the park. The sun would be coming up in a few minutes, and I didn't want to stick around, so I started making my way out of the park.I was still thinking about that girl, Serena. One minute we had been talking and the next she had run out on me, without giving me an explanation. Serena Tsukino. Her name, the girl I had saved and thought I killed. In a weird way I was kind of happy – I still didn't have any idea of who I was, but I felt better about myself knowing that I hadn't killed her. I smiled at myself, whoever she was to me I didn't know but I had a feeling about her. And I was still puzzling over the flash back, we both had. That wasn't my first but I had seen her in it ….. but in that I called her Serenity ? I had had a few more flash backs in those I was a weird hero in a black cape …… I didn't know if it was me, it had to be unless I had an identical twin – which was no option for me. all these memories made no sense.  
  
"So you couldn't sleep too ?" I stopped, startled. As a voice broke into my thoughts. Andrew stood a few paces in front of my at the entrance of the park. He had a bandage where I had punched him, but his face showed no signs of hatred.  
  
I stood still, not knowing what to do.  
  
When I didn't reply, he started moving towards me. When he was directly in front of me, he raised his fist. I didn't even use my hands to protect myself, I just closed my eyes, waiting for the punch.  
  
*********************************Amy***********************************  
  
I groaned and sat up on my bed. I'd been tossing and tuning all night since I came home from Serena's. I couldn't sleep. I sighed as I thought of Serena. I was glad she was ok, but I was still confused of what had happened before her accident. I had a very bad feeling that we were partly to blame over the entire incident. I felt sorry for Serena over her memory lapse but I was also glad at the same time – because that meant she didn't remember our argument on the phone. But sooner or later she was bound to get her memory back . . . . . and then what ?  
  
I didn't know how the rest of the girls felt over all this. I didn't want to tell them, because I was afraid that all I'd do is cause more confusion and more problems. Before Serena's accident we were all sure that Serena should step down from her place as the leader of the sailor scouts but after her accident our motives had changed. Those weeks, when she was in coma, where we'd prayed that she'll make through this alive, had been torture to every single one of us. In our own way, I knew that we thought individually we were responsible to where Serena had landed herself.  
  
I still had a tremendous amount of unanswered questions. Questions that even Luna couldn't answer.  
  
I grabbed my communicator which was in the top drawer near my bedside table, I had a sudden urge to call one of the scouts, but the urge soon faded once I caught a glimpse of my alarm clock, it was only a while past 5 a.m. if I called now, I would only wake them up.  
  
'BEEP BEEP' 'BEEP BEEP' 'BEEP BEEP'  
  
it took a while for it to register that the sound was coming from the communicator, I quickly switched it on.  
  
"Amy ?" Ray's voice sounded. "Are you awake ?" she asked cautiously.  
  
"Yes Ray I've been awake for a while, I take it you couldn't sleep too ?" I replied.  
  
"no, I kept thinking of Serena." She sighed. "what are we going to do about her ? I mean I really do feel guilty over her memory loss and what she's been through and all but what are we going to do about – well about everything ! sailormoon, her, our leader ?" she continued. I didn't reply, because those were the exact questions I didn't have the answer to.  
  
"well I guess first of all, I think we need to meet up, just the four of us and decide together, what we're going to do. Until then we'll just avoid the subject when we're with Serena – its not like she'll notice, not unless she gets her memory back, that is. When do you think she'll get her memory back ?" Ray asked.  
  
I took all the information in. "wow, you have been thinking about this, haven't you." I asked. I actually admired her ability to overcome the problem and solve it no matter what the situation was. To some people she may seem insensitive and bossy but she only tries to help.  
  
"well, I haven't been able to sleep. So I just tried to solve it all, but – then I thought of Serena and how she must feel, all alone not knowing anything at all . . . ." Ray's voice trailed off. That was one thing that hadn't occurred to me. And I realized that Ray was right – I couldn't imagine how it would feel.  
  
"I think you're right, we should hold a meeting tomorrow, at your temple. Then talk about all this then." I said.  
  
But even after agreeing on a time to meet up, a promise to phone the others in the morning and more talking, I couldn't sleep. What Ray had said about how Serena must feel at the moment really made me realize from her point of view, how hard it was for her.  
  
I glanced at the clock. It was just a few minutes before 8. I got up, changed into my jogging clothes and went downstairs to phone the others. I left a message to Lita and Mina with there parents as they were both still asleep. Then I left my house for an early morning jog in the park.  
  
*~*~*~* ok guys that's gonna be it for a while. This didn't exactly end with suspense but you still want to read my next chapter . . . . . right ??? well anyway are you wondering if Serena's gonna be let out of the house, ever again ? actually that's what I am wondering ! (wicked look on my face) its my story . . . . which means I can make 'anything' happen in it …. !!!! well u SHOULD know my e mail address by now . . . . .  
  
………. Crescentmoon_bunny@yahoo.co.uk (just in case) 


	9. Chapter Nine

'Watch Out Meatball Head !'  
  
Chapter nine  
  
******************************Sammy***********************************  
  
I looked at my digital clock 4.45 a.m. and frowned as I got out of bed, I wouldn't have ever got out of bed in the first place if I didn't need to try out for the foot ball team. I would always be more into video games than foot ball, but I'd lost that stupid bet and now I was forced to enter for the football try outs. I'd be lucky if I could kick the ball straight.  
  
I quickly changed, I looked all over for my favorite lucky black baseball cap, but I couldn't find it anywhere. My frown deepened. If this was how my day was getting started I didn't even want to think about how bad it could get.  
  
I went downstairs, quickly grabbed a bowl, poured some cereal in, and started eating keeping an eye on the clock on the kitchen wall. I had to be there at five, so I didn't have much time left.  
  
I choked on my cereal when the back door burst open, and a smiling Serena stepped inside the house. But her smile froze as soon as she saw me.  
  
I grabbed for the pitcher of water and quickly drank some to stop myself from choking the on the cereal entirely.  
  
*************************************Serena*****************************  
  
"Uhh, hi Sammy," I couldn't believe how stunned I was to see Sammy up at 5 in the morning. I hadn't expected anyone to be up at 5 !  
  
"Serena ?" he asked, it took me a while to realize he was waiting for an explanation.  
  
"I couldn't sleep." I said lamely. He stood there for a minute longer, not saying anything.  
  
"does mum and dad know, about the little walk you took before dawn, all alone ?" he smirked. He was mocking me. He knew as well as I did that if mum and dad found out about this, they'd never let me out of their sight for the rest of my life.  
  
"Sammy, pleeaaaaaaaasseee, you cant tell them ! they wouldn't let me go out with my friends ! you cant tell them about this at all ! they'd kill me, they'd lock me up ! all I wanted was too see out, go around and think for a while." I begged, I fell on my knees and grabbed his hands, clasping them in from of me. (Serena's POV: I had to come up with some way to keep him quiet, and I did take him by surprise !)  
  
he looked down at me and snatched his hands away from me looking startled and uncomfortable at the same time. "ok ok ok fine, but you owe me sis, you owe me BIG" he said grinning.  
  
I got back up to my feet. "fine, I owe you – as long as you don't tell mum and dad." I replied calming down a bit. I'd deal with whatever Sammy wanted, when it came to it. But right now I had to get back upstairs and back into my bed before mum and dad come down.  
  
"Hey, why are you up so early ?" I asked realizing that it wasn't normal for any sane human being to be up at 5 a.m. in the morning. He blushed and looked away from me.  
  
"I uhh have something to do." With that he quickly got up and dashed out into the hall. Whatever Sammy was up to, I'd figure out what it was later, but now I had to quickly get back into my bed.  
  
*********************************Andrew********************************  
  
I starred at my best friend. He had his eyes closed and his face was scrunched up as thought he expected me to …… hit him ?? I placed my hand on his shoulder. His eyes flew open in surprise.  
  
"Andr- Andrew !" he stuttered. I gave him an easy smile.  
  
"hey," I said. He starred at me for a minute his eyes filled with confusion.  
  
"You alive !" he asked. He reached out and grasped my arm, as if to check if I was really there or not.  
  
I laughed. "you think an easy punch in the face was gonna kill me ?" he looked pained when I said that.  
  
"you know I didn't mean to . . . to – you know" he said avoiding my eyes.  
  
I gripped his shoulder tighter. "maybe that punch did more good than bad, I know you didn't mean it. What I meant was, I know its hard for you. Despite the fact that I never knew lots of things about you, you were always my best friend. Loosing your memory is probably the hardest for you than it is for Serena. But you both have people who care about you. And I want you to know that no matter how much you push me away I will always be there for you. Even though you're my best friend you never told me how you felt, the girl you liked, the things you hate etc. those simple but important things. now that you lost all this thoughts I cant help you regain them because, I never knew these things. Do you know how guilty I feel ? no you wouldn't, you're too wrapped up with yourself to even realize. Don't make the exact same mistake again by shutting me out." I let go of Dariens shoulder and stepped back away from him.  
  
Throughout my entire speech Darien remained still with the same blank expression.  
  
"I want to help you Darien, please let me into your life, don't block me out." I said my voice raspy from emotion. "call me when your ready to talk." I said quietly.  
  
Then I turned and walked away with my back to him.  
  
As I walked out of the park my head ducked down, I could still feel his gaze burning into my back. I had done all I can, I just hope he started to come around.  
  
****************************************Amy****************************  
  
I had run for about an hour and was still thinking about Serena and our meeting when I almost ran straight into someone, coming at top speed around the corner.  
  
"hey!" I gasped, almost loosing balance and tripping over the edge of the pavement.  
  
"ooh sorry! AMY !!!! just the person I was looking for !" said an excited voice. I looked up to see a very breathless and flushed Mina. "I just got the greatest idea !!! I was just sleeping and dreaming about all that's happened and the solution to our problem just banged into my head ! its so simple ! I cant believe we didn't realize it before ! but then again I am the goddess of love ! its just like me to…." I let her rattle on for about a minute or so, trying to absorb everything that she was saying.  
  
"Mina, stop. Calm down – talk slowly, even I cant understand what your saying!" I interrupted. She stopped and took a deep breath, and opened her mouth to repeat everything she had just said.  
  
I stifled her by placing my hand over her mouth. "why don't you save it for the meeting, we're having at the temple tomorrow ." I said quickly.  
  
She shook her head prying my hand away from her mouth. "I got your message but when I tried to call back on the phone and the communicator no one answered. Same happened with Lita. So I figured I'd go to your and Lita's house. So anyway this is very important it cant wait till tomorrow. I told everyone to meet at the crown arcade in an hour or so. But I didn't ask Serena to come. 'cos this is about her." She said all in one breath.  
  
I raised an eyebrow and took a step back away from her. "ok, I'll meet you in an hour or so. I need to go back home, pick up my communicator. I must have left it on my desk. Plus I need to take a shower." I said scrunching up my nose.  
  
"you do!" Mina giggled.  
  
I smiled – it had been a long time since before Serena's accident that I'd seen Mina smile let alone giggle. Like I'd said before, everyone of us thought individually we were to blame for the accident that could've killed the 'moon princess' which we were supposed to have been protecting. I watched as Mina hurried away from me waving as she did so.  
  
What ever it was that Mina had in mind was enough to cheer her up, and seeing Mina so happy made me happy.  
  
***********************************Serena*******************************  
  
I hadn't been able to sleep when I'd got home so I was up pretty early, considered from what my mum had said about my sleeping habit. I was sitting in the living room couch watching a movie, but I couldn't really concentrate on it. I was actually waiting for the phone to ring. For the past hour I had kept glancing at the phone, trying to will it to ring. But from what it seemed like my friends had forgotten about me and the promise they had made me.  
  
I threw the phone a final wistful glance, when my mum walked in. she had a frustrated look on her face. "what is it Serena ?" she demanded. I look up at her from my sitting position, surprised. "You've been giving the phone glares that could scare the dead!" she said, nodding at the phone.  
  
I blushed, and looked away. Was I that obvious ?  
  
"instead of waiting for them to call, why don't you call one of the girls ?" she asked. I brightened instantly. Without another word I rushed to the phone, I grabbed the phone book and flipped through it to find Amy's number. Once the phone was ringing, I waited patiently for Amy to pick up. When the phone was picked up, it wasn't by Amy but by her mother.  
  
"hello?" said Mrs. Mizuno's voice.  
  
"Hi, this is Serena, is Amy there ?" I asked.  
  
"oh hello Serena, how are you ? I'm afraid that Amy has gone to the arcade, I'll tell her you called. Ok ? sorry but I have to rush, I'm already late, bye!" she said.  
  
"oh ok. Bye" I hung up the phone, disappointed. My mum came over to me, "try one of the other girls?" she said squeezing my shoulder soothingly.  
  
I did. I tried calling Mina, Lita and Raye but I got the same answer all the time. 'gone to the arcade. I felt hollow disappointment spread through the pit of my stomach. They had gone to the arcade without me.  
  
My mother must have realized how 'down' I was feeling when she burst up with a sudden idea. "well I know I said you couldn't go out today. But since you are looking so well and healthy why don't I drop you off at the arcade, for lunch with the girls ?" she said.  
  
At first I wasn't too excited about going, but my mother talked me into the idea. So in the next few minutes I found myself been driven to the 'crown arcade' I tried to listen intently as my mother went through a list of safety precautions I should take while walking home with the girls. But my mind was still fixed on the fact of being left out.  
  
A few minutes later as Serena entered the crown arcade. . . . . . .  
  
I looked around and saw Andrew, serving a customer at the counter he hadn't noticed me entering yet. I scanned the crowded arcade and spotted the four girls sitting at a table for five. I smiled and walked towards them quickly deciding to join them. But I froze as a sharp voice sliced through me.  
  
"Are you crazy ? why should we even let Serena into our group ? she is such a ditz ! nothings going to change that ! I think we should leave her out completely ! she wont notice the difference, she's lost her memory anyway." It was Raye, she was speaking loud enough for anybody to hear. I felt my throat tighten.  
  
"Raye don't be so harsh-." Amy stopped when she realized that I was standing a few feet away from the table. And was in ear shot of the conversation. Slowly the rest of the girls turned towards me and raised there eyes to see what had made Amy stop talking.  
  
They sat there for a minute, frozen in there seats. I felt tears fill up my eyes.  
  
I cant give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry, I thought as I hurriedly turned away from them and made a dash, towards the arcade door.  
  
But I barely made it through the door when I ran into something hard. "Watch out meatball head!" I heard the person say as he grabbed me by the waist to keep me from falling.  
  
By now I had the entire attention of the arcade for the commotion I had caused, I raised my eyes and they locked into dark blue eyes that I had starred into before, which mirrored the same confused expression I had on.  
  
*~*~*~* yeay ! another chapter done !!! well I know you have already guessed who the stranger with blue eyes had to be, so I guess that this is another chapter which doesn't end 'sniff' in suspense. Well its close enough for me (. Plus someone very 'kindly' pointed out that I had spelt 'Ray' (sailor mars) wrong. So I'd like to apologize for any confusion I had caused or will cause. And I will now spell her name as 'Raye'. ( see ? now everyone's happy . . . . I hope ! I can honestly tell you that the next chapter wont be coming out for a while, so for that I'm apologizing in advance ! ~crescentmoon_bunny@yahoo.co.uk 


	10. Chapter Ten

1 Watch Out Meatball Head  
  
1.1 Chapter 10  
  
(A.N. I'm backtracking here, so don't get confused. ! all I'm doing is telling you what happened before the 'Serena' scene in the arcade. In Darien's point of view, because I did kind of leave you hanging after what happened between Andrew and Darien ! plus what exactly 'WAS' going on between the scouts when Serena walked in and 'heard' what exactly it was that Raye felt towards her. *-* )  
  
*************************************Darien*****************************  
  
ok so I was pretty shocked by Andrew's outburst, all I knew was that he was usually pretty relaxed and a carefree guy, but now that I looked over everything that I had done since I came home from hospital, I did realize that for a best friend I had pretty much ignored and neglected the guy. So that's why I had decided to walk back to the 'crown arcade' to find Andrew and apologize, and also tell him something . . . . anything. As far as I knew there weren't many people who could help me recollect my memory and losing my best friend wasn't helping my situation. I was still deep in thought that I almost walked right past the arcade without noticing.  
  
I walked into the arcade, I was so busy looking for Andrew that I almost didn't notice the whiz of blond hair rushing straight towards me.  
  
"Watch out Meatball head !" my mouth automatically formed the words before I could even think what I was saying or to whom I was saying it to. My hands automatically locked themselves around the girls waist to keep the both of us from toppling over. She raised her head to meet my eyes. I instantly recognized the light blue pair of eyes.  
  
"princess" I heard myself whisper.  
  
*************************************Raye******************************  
  
after I had talked to Amy, that morning I couldn't really say I felt much better. I knew that deep down – it would be more my fault than any others – the cause of Serena's accident. Well not exactly the accident but what lead to her getting hurt. Even though I'd never admit this to anyone of the girls I was secretly glad that Serena had lost her memory. Because I knew that if she knew she would blame me for everything, and she had every right to believe that I was to blame. I had managed to fall asleep after that but my dreamless sleep was interrupted by my communicator beeping. I instantly thought that we were having another attack. But it was only an over excited Mina. She was calling a non – sailor scout meeting at the arcade without Serena. I told her about me and Amy's idea but she rejected the thought immediately stating that she had a plan way more important. Then she continued blabbing about being the goddess of love. I wasn't really excited but then again Mina was excited for the both of us. And she didn't seem to notice my unusual quietness. When she stopped to take a deep breath I quickly agreed to meet her at the arcade but I made an excuse to clean the temple to get off the phone.  
  
I was still thinking about Serena when I walked into the arcade an hour later to meet up with the rest of my friends. I was the last one seated – and Mina was looking like she was about to burst. But as soon as I sat down Mina got up.  
  
"you guys said you had some scout business to discuss right ? well you start without me. I need to talk to Andrew about something." Before any of us could oblige she walked towards the far end of the counter.  
  
I turned to face everyone. "what are we going to do?" I asked.  
  
"what do you mean ?" Lita said looking a bit confused.  
  
"well maybe you haven't thought of the future of the sailor scouts but I have ! and with Serena losing her memory maybe we should just forget about sailor moon. You know, she was going to drop out of saving the world in the first place ! it'll be less painful that way." I said. For some reason I felt angry. I didn't know why – maybe it was because of Serena, Maybe it was because I wasn't prepared to face the world without a sailor moon, or maybe It was simply because I was scared that telling her about being sailormoon might jolt her memory back and give her a reason to hate me. Hate me so much, that she'd stop being my friend.  
  
When I looked to face my friends I was even more determined to go through with my plan. I hadn't really thought it through but the more I thought of it the better it sounded and the better I felt. Maybe I was truly being selfish but I was willing to do anything to save my friendship with Serena, anything.  
  
Lita and Amy avoided my eyes, my eyes narrowed at them angrily. I was about to ask them if they had any better ideas when Mina showed up, flustered and happy. She stopped when she saw me starring angrily at Mina and Lita. And the unhappy faces of disagreement they wore.  
  
"what happened ?" she asked. When we didn't answer she sighed melodramatically.  
  
"I am supposed to be part of this conversation aren't I ?" she asked, annoyed.  
  
Ignoring the questioning look, I barged straight into what we had been talking about. Explaining to her what we were going to do, was only what a true friend would do.  
  
But before I could go on, Lita cut in. "But sailormoon is our leader, we cant go on without her. Not to mention that she's also our friend. I don't think ignoring her is going to help either of us" before I could answer, Amy came in, agreeing with Lita.  
  
"Lita's right, we cant just push her away like that, and stop being her friends. I think we should tell her, and I mean tell her everything." That last word sent a shiver through my spine. I couldn't let that happen. It looked like Amy and Lita were wining, and I couldn't let Mina agree with them – then that would be like watching my life of support and happiness destroying around me and not being able to do anything to defend or protect myself.  
  
"about the leader, we all agreed that we should select a new leader, because Serena wasn't exactly suited for the job." I said quickly steering the conversation to another area.  
  
"well actually Raye, now after everything that has happened maybe keeping the chosen leader is a good idea. We were too quick and neglected all of Serena's good points." Mina said thoughtfully. I looked at each of them in the eye.  
  
"how could you say that, you're letting a simple accident get in the way of our decision." I said through greeted teeth. Mina started twirling a blond strand of hair, looking preoccupied. Obviously she'd thought that the matter was closed.  
  
"it wasn't a simple accident ! she almost died !" Lita said starting to get worked up.  
  
"that's not what I meant," I said quickly.  
  
"why don't we just tell Serena everything, and make her our leader again. That will solve all of our problems. Including her memory problem, and the missing sailor scout." Amy said.  
  
"Are you crazy ? why should we even let Serena into our group ? she is such a ditz ! nothings going to change that ! I think we should leave her out completely ! she wont notice the difference, she's lost her memory anyway." By now I was so frustrated I was almost shouting. I hadn't realized I was standing until Amy tugged at my sleeve.  
  
"don't be so harsh –." She froze. Her mouth formed an 'o' shape but no sound came out. I looked at her, trying to figure out what was going on. She was starring at something. Each of us slowly turned to look at what it was that she was looking at.  
  
Serena. For a minute I was too shocked to reply. I starred at her face helplessly. A flow of emotion passed through her face in that minute, I have never seen so many emotions reflect on one face before. Hurt, confusion, sadness, helplessness, sorrow, anger etc. then finally her face went blank. She had heard everything.  
  
She then turned and made a dash towards the arcade door.  
  
*********************************Serena*********************************  
  
"watch out meatball Head !" I starred at the midnight blue eyes that I knew so well, yet didn't recognize. Suddenly I had a flashback.  
  
*FLASH BACK*  
  
I was running then Suddenly I stopped, something wasn't right. I wiped my tears trying to clear my vision, I didn't even know I was crying, until I felt the warm liquid flow down my cheeks, unstoppable. I tried to see where I was but there was a light that just became brighter. Finally managing to see clearly what was going on, I gasped. I was standing in the middle of a road and a lorry was coming towards me, very fast. just then thunder struck. I stood paralyzed in fear like a deer in headlights unable to move. 'I'm going to die' I thought as I closed her eyes.  
  
Then I heard that distant voice, in my ear. "watch out meatball head!"  
  
End of *FLASH BACK*  
  
I gasped as I felt my body go limp in the strangers arms. I could feel the tears flowing down my cheeks for real now. Silvery trails spilling down my neck. I gasped again, attempting to get a grip of myself. But I was too scared.  
  
"Darien" I whispered urgently. I didn't know who's name that was.  
  
"yes, I'm here" came the reply. Nor did I know who replied. I felt the arms around me tighten. Suddenly, I felt myself lifted up and placed onto something soft. I missed the warmth that I had been wrapped up in a moment ago. I opened my eyes.  
  
I didn't see the midnight blue eyes anymore, they were replaced by a worried pair of green eyes. (A.N so sorry, but since I don't know the actual colour of Andrew's eyes, lets pretend there green !) I moaned softly, feeling dizzy. Somebody bought in a glass of water, and after I had had a sip of the cold water, I felt much better. I sat up uncertainly. Finally l looked around me. I was sitting up on a bunch of towels and sheets. I was in back room of the arcade, where all the tea towels, dish washer cloths, serviettes etc. were kept. The girls were huddled around me, behind Andrew, wearing the same worried expression. There was no sign of the stranger of midnight blue eyes, the same guy who saved my life.  
  
"are you ok. ?" Amy asked. I nodded. I didn't feel like talking I felt too weak.  
  
"I think she fainted, she needs rest, lots of it." Andrew said. I nodded gratefully at him. I got up unsteadily. "who was supposed to take you home ?" he asked as put out an arm for me to lean on. I thought for a minute, I was supposed to get a ride from one of the girls, but I didn't feel like talking to either of them. Raye's words still echoed in my mind. "Are you crazy ? why should we even let Serena into our group ? she is such a ditz ! nothings going to change that ! I think we should leave her out completely ! she wont notice the difference, she's lost her memory anyway." I winced as the truth hit me hard. Andrew mistook that as a sign of pain.  
  
"I think someone should drive you home." He paused. "I wish I could but I cant, my cars in for repairs and I cant leave work without anyone here to supervise." He said regretfully. I was about to say I was perfectly fine and that I could walk home alone. When I voice interrupted me.  
  
"I'll take her home." Everyone turned around. It was the stranger from the park, the one who saved my life the one who I didn't know the name of.  
  
"Darien ? are you sure ? do you know where she lives ?" Amy asked. Before Darien could reply, Mina interrupted.  
  
"ahh !! don't worry, Serena will be fine in his hands," she opened her bag and pulled out a gum wrapper and a pen. She quickly scribbled down something and handed it to Darien. "that's where she lives." With that with Dariens support I found myself being led to a red car. I got in and fastened my seatbelt. I lay my head back on the seat and before I knew it I fell asleep.  
  
***************************************Mina****************************  
  
*~*~* a half hour later still, at the arcade.  
  
"so guys what do you think of my plan ?" I had gone into full description of my plan. But right now they weren't as excited as I was. Actually they looked weary.  
  
"I don't know . . ." came Amy's uncertain reply. Lita shrugged, and Raye looked like she could've been miles away. I looked at them frowning.  
  
"I already talked to Andrew about this ! and he agreed. So you guys just leave the rest to me and agree to everything I say, understood. ?" I whined.  
  
"I don't think that this is actually such a good idea, I don't even think that Serena will talk to any of us ever again." Amy said.  
  
"and its all my fault ! me and my big mouth." Came Raye's sharp reply. Amy tried to calm her down but Raye was too worked up.  
  
"awww guys !! its Serena we are talking about ! she'll forgive anyone and everyone !" I said. "remember that time when you went out with Darien, Raye ? she forgave you for that ! remember that time when Amy was turned against us during a battle and Serena defended her, and Amy, you hurt Serena ? she forgave you for that. And Lita remember that time when you fell for Allan and it turned out that it was Serena he liked, and Serena refused to go out wit him 'cos he hurt you ? and you decided to spread stuff about Serena to make him forget her, and she forgave you." (A.N. ok ok so some of this aren't exactly true but for the sake of the story, please go with it !)  
  
Lita looked at me sourly. "what's your point ?"  
  
"my point is we're her best friends, we owe it to her." I replied. By the look on their face I knew they would give in.  
  
"Yippeeeeeee !!" I cried out punching my fist in the air.  
  
*******************************Serena***********************************  
  
I felt something warm brush against my cheek. I opened one eye. I was startled to see the stranger with blue eyes. I wasn't in the car any more. He smiled at me.  
  
"I didn't want to wake you up. I found you keys in your pocket so I carried you in." he replied simply. I sat up in my bed. I was in my bedroom. My eyes swept around my room, then landed on him.  
  
"who are you ?" I asked.  
  
"Darien." He replied. "you didn't faint did you ?" he asked. I looked at him, then shook my head slowly. He nodded. " I thought so. Flash back ?"  
  
"yes." I said. I looked down at my hands. I didn't realize he had come over from near the window, where he was standing, until the tip of his fingers held my chin and lifted it up.  
  
"are you ok ?" he asked. Not being able to say a word, I nodded, again.  
  
"good." He said softly. He got up. "do you want me to stay with you ?" I looked at him surprised, I hadn't expected that. I didn't answer for about a minute, then shook my head.  
  
"come over tomorrow please ?" I found myself saying.  
  
He's glance remained on me. The n he nodded, came over me bent down and kissed me softly on my cheek. "see you tomorrow." He whispered.  
  
I didn't reply, instead I watched him go. I could still feel the tingly sensation where he had kissed me.  
  
*~*~*~*~* Yeay ! another chapter done ! well sorry if it's a bit confusing and slow. But I had to get everything straightened out. I didn't know this story wasn't going to be that long ! I got two other ideas for stories, but I'm wondering which to start writing first ! and if I start with them I might forget to finish this x_x well anyway do you guys have any idea what the plan is ? you better not !!! but I think its pretty obvious. Well Raye will be playing a BIG part in the next chapter. Sorry, this chapter was a bit late to come out.  
  
p.s. if any one is interested, I'm writing another Serena / Darien story and I need a little help. Can you please mail me, I'll explain. 


	11. Chapter Eleven

"Watch Out Meatball Head!"  
  
1 Chapter Eleven  
  
********************************Andrew*********************************  
  
I glanced at the arcade door, for the hundredth time this morning, while wiping the counter clean, wondering if Darien was ever going to turn up. It was the day after Serena had fainted and Darien had promised to come over here, while I was working, so I could help put Mina's plan into action. I glanced at the clock on the wall behind me, as I served coffee to a customer. 11.30 a.m. unusually late for Darien, but then again Darien wasn't exactly himself lately. Just then the bells of the arcade door jingled.  
  
I looked up to find Darien walk in. he was smiling ???  
  
"hey Darien, how's Serena ?" I asked.  
  
"I'm going to see her today," he replied. I raised my eyebrows. He ignore my look and continued. "listen, about yesterday morning, at the park. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about a lot of things, actually –." I held my hand up in protest, cutting him off.  
  
"lets just forget the whole deal ever happened, o.k. ? any way there are some things I've kept from you since the accident." I started, putting Mina's plan into action.  
  
"there are ?" his turn for raised eyebrows.  
  
"yeah, like the fact that Serena was your girlfriend before the accident." I said bluntly. He stared at me, speechless. I glanced at him casually to see his reaction. His eyes were wide open and his mouth was hanging open in shock. I sighed in annoyance. "its not that hard to believe !" I said. Placing Dariens usual black coffee order in front of him.  
  
He was quiet for a while. "I kind of suspected that." He replied. Now it was my turn to be shocked and in result I almost dropped the glass of mineral water, I was serving to another customer who had arrived. I quickly recovered though.  
  
"what do you mean ?" I asked clearing my throat. If only he knew the truth ! sneering at the thought of Darien realizing that the girl he used to call 'meatball head' and torment her all day was 'now' his girlfriend. (A.N. …. Are you starting to understand Mina, the goddess of love's plan ?)  
  
"well . . . um, you know yesterday at the arcade. When Serena started crying and fainted on me ?" I nodded encouraging him to go on. "I had one of those flash backs, the one's the doctor said I'll start getting. Actually we had a flash back. It was right before the accident when she ran into the street and I pushed her away in the last minute." He said. I looked closely at his face and noticed that Darien looked a bit shook up. I guess any guy would, experiencing a flash back that happened right before you saved a girl from getting hit by a truck.  
  
He reached over to pick up his cup of coffee, then froze.  
  
***********************************Serena*******************************  
  
I had gotten up a bit late this morning, but I couldn't forget the dreams I had which were of a guy in a black cape and mask. (A.N. work with me here, how else can you describe tuxedo mask ???) I didn't know what it meant, but I knew it had something to do with unlocking my memory. It was about two hours since I'd gotten up this morning, and since then I had washed my hair, dried it and dressed nicely. I was a bit excited about Darien coming to visit. Dad, of course, didn't know. I told mum, (s.p.o.v. I didn't tell mum that Darien was the guy who saved my life, I just told her that he was someone I knew.) and she said it was fine as long as she was introduced to him first. Mum and dad also didn't know about my little fainting accident the night before, or about the things that were told by Raye, and hopefully those things would kept unrepeated to them. I didn't know what to feel towards the girls, right now. To tell you the truth, I was too caught up about dariens visit than to think about Raye.  
  
I jumped out of living room couch as the doorbell rang, interrupting my thoughts. I quickly smoothed down the front of my dress and then taking a deep breath I opened the door. I gasped in surprise as I saw who it was. (A.N. I could end it right here !!!)  
  
"hi Serena," Raye said. "can I come in ?" she asked uncertainly. I didn't know what to say so I stepped back and let her in. she smiled gratefully.  
  
"why don't we go into my room ?" I asked her. She shook her head.  
  
"actually I was wondering if we could go to the park." She replied.  
  
"well umm, actually mum's not home and I cant leave without telling her and I'm expecting someone over." I said apologetically. I wanted to talk to Raye but I didn't want to miss out on seeing Darien today.  
  
She stood there looking at me for a while, then looked down at her feet.  
  
"well I guess I better get it over and done with now." She said avoiding my eyes. I waited patiently for her to continue.  
  
"Raye ?" I asked when she didn't continue. She still didn't reply. "Raye ?" I repeated. She finally raised her eyes to meet mine, they were full of tears.  
  
"I' so sorry Serena, I didn't mean to hurt you ! I know its my fault that you got into the accident in the first place, but I didn't know ! you have to believe me. I know you think that I hate you but I don't – its just that I don't want to see you hurt. Please Serena ! you have to believe me !" she was sobbing now, clutching my hand and pleading. I starred at her face, her tears flowing down her cheeks freely. Then I did the only thing I could do. I reached over and hugged her,  
  
I felt tears filling up in my own eyes. "Its ok. Its not your fault that I got into the accident, you know yesterday at the arcade? When you thought I fainted I actually had a flash back, the kind the doctor said I would start getting before I get my entire memory back. It was one right before the accident. I saw what happened. And you had nothing to do with it, and about yesterday? its ok really. I know you didn't mean to." I said quietly.  
  
Just then the doorbell rang. It was just my luck that Darien decides to turn up when I had puffy cheeks and red eyes.  
  
"That would be Amy, mina and Lita." Raye said wiping the trails of tears that had been running down her cheeks. I looked at her in surprise. Why is it, that everybody decides to visit me on the exact same day ? I opened the door and sure enough the three girls, were standing at my door step looking anxious. Mina took one look at our tear stained faces and smiled.  
  
"they've made up ! now we can forget the tears and get to the real good stuff !" I didn't know what she was going on about, but I let her in anyway. Once we had all settled down, we started talking.  
  
Amy told me about school. Lita told me about my eating habit, and Mina cut in finally to drop the bombshell. "you have a boyfriend !" for a minute I thought I had heard wrong. But she was practically jumping up and down with excitement.  
  
"who?" I managed to choke out one I'd gotten my voice back.  
  
"Darien !!!" she squealed. "we didn't want to tell you before, because we thought it would be weird seeing that he saved my life and all…" she rattled on for about ten minutes, but I was still trying to get the information to sink in. Darien was my boyfriend ?!  
  
"Serena had a flash back at the arcade yesterday, it was one of what happen before the accident" Raye said, quietly. Instantly everybody stopped talking. They all turned to look at me questionably.  
  
I wriggled uncomfortably. "I don't remember much but, I was running and then I stopped and I realized that I was crying. There was this light and then I realized that it was a lorry. I couldn't move, and then there was someone else, its Darien I guess, and he was yelling something I couldn't make out. And suddenly I felt myself pushed aside. And then nothing. That's all." I shuddered as the entire scene played itself in my mind repeatedly.  
  
When no one said anything, I looked at them. "why was I crying ?" I asked my voice barely a whisper. Nobody answered.  
  
**********************************Darien********************************  
  
As soon as I has touched that coffee mug I felt as though I had been pulled away from my body.  
  
*FLASH BACK*  
  
when I opened my eyes, I saw myself sitting in the same exact stool I had been sitting on, only moments ago. I was drinking coffee. Just then the bells on the arcade door jingled and opened. Serena walked in. she was dressed in her blue and white school uniform. She was clutching a piece of paper and looking depressed. She came and sat down at a the counter a few stools away from me. That was odd – if I were her boyfriend she would come and sit right next to me right ? maybe she hadn't seen me.  
  
Then I saw myself move and turn to face her.  
  
"hey meatball head ! why looking so low ? I bet you failed another test !" I winced as I heard myself say those words.  
  
she turned and glared at me. "whats it to you Darien. Isn't there somebody else you'd rather pick on than me !" she hissed, turning her back to me.  
  
"no actually, I find it amusing to pick on you in particular, 'cos you are so easy to wind up – seeing that you are stupid of course." I heard myself reply.  
  
She turned her flushed face towards me. "I'm glad I fill up your social calendar Darien, but why don't you leave me out of it next time and get yourself a life !" she practically yelled and stormed out of the arcade.  
  
End of *FLASH BACK*  
  
"Darien ? hey, come on. Answer me." Andrew's voice rang out. I didn't even realize that I had my eyes closed. When I opened them, Andrew was standing in front of me looking worried.  
  
"you zoned out, for a minute. Are you ok ?" he asked. I nodded – but I wasn't really ok. In fact I was more confused than ever. The flash back ? what was it about. Me and Serena fighting ?  
  
Andrew peered at me closely. "what happened ? another flash back ? that's good right ?" I nodded again, but he didn't look convinced.  
  
"then why are you looking so pale ?" he wanted to know.  
  
"I'm fine," I lied. " you know you said me and Serena were an item ? well were we close ?" I asked.  
  
He starred at me for a minute probably wondering what had bought this on. "you guys were pretty close." He replied. Being vague.  
  
"did we fight ?" I questioned. Andrew stopped wiping the counter.  
  
**********************************Mina*********************************  
  
my plan wasn't going right at all. This was supposed to be about Serena and Darien not about the accident, or what had happened before the accident.  
  
"guys ? why was I crying ?" Serena repeated. Again nobody answered.  
  
"lots of things, some that we know some we don't." Raye replied quietly after a long time. Serena remained silent. After a long uncomfortable silence I quickly bought everybody back to the most important subject.  
  
"so Serena, don't you want to know more about Darien ?" I asked. She must have just remembered because she nodded.  
  
"he's supposed to be coming over here today." Serena interrupted me before I could go into detail about her relationship with Darien. My mouth hung open in surprise. Had Andrew gotten Darien to ask her out already ?  
  
"when did this happen ?" Lita asked as curios as the rest of us.  
  
"last night, when he dropped me off. I asked him to come over . . . . and he said he would." Serena blushed as she gave us this information. It looked like I didn't have to do anything at all to get these two together, they were doing it themselves ! I smirked at the thought of them finding out the way they were acting to this little set up, when they realized that they were sworn enemies before the accident !  
  
"Serena ?" Amy asked. "when exactly did you meet Darien ? because I thought that the first time was when you guys well sort of ran into each other at the arcade lat night." Amy finished. That thought hadn't occurred to me, but Amy was right. None of us had introduced them.  
  
Serena ducked her head, but I could see the blush that covered her cheeks. "well actually you know the night after you guys came to visit ? and mum wouldn't let me out ? well I sneaked out of the house that morning and I ran into Darien." She admitted sheepishly. We did the chorus of 'oohs' and 'aahs' at this.  
  
After that things were pretty much great. And the day went from worst to best. Since Serena didn't know much about either of us, we talked to her about ourselves and told her more about herself. Then we went into stories and fun we had had together. When Serena's mother came home I could tell that she was happy to see Serena starting to get back to herself. But nothing we said so far had actually triggered her memory.  
  
***********************************Andrew******************************  
  
as slowly as I could I served the last customer. When Darien had asked me that question I hadn't known how to respond. The truth was that I didn't know whether to tell him the truth – which would ruin mina's plan or to tell him they didn't fight at all and go along with the plan. Luckily for me a bunch of people had just then entered the arcade so I quickly made an excuse to start serving those customers and I left Darien at the stool in the counter. But now that the last customer had been served I had no choice but to face him. Suddenly I got a bright idea, I quickly swept past Darien and into the backroom. Giving Darien a 'I'll be back in a minute' look. I reached for the pay phone and quickly inserted a coin into it.  
  
After a few rings mina's mother picked up. "hello ?"  
  
"hi, is mina there ?" I asked as politely as I could.  
  
"I'm sorry but she's at Serena's, do you want me to give her a message ?"  
  
"no that's ok, thank you. I'll call her there, Mrs. Aino." I said replacing the receiver and dialing Serena's number.  
  
After two rings Serena picked up. "hello,"  
  
"hi Serena, this is Andrew can I please speak to mina ?" I asked quickly, there wasn't much time left and I had run out of coins.  
  
"hold on a minute." He placed the phone on the table and disappeared, I thought she was never going to return.  
  
"hey Andrew!" came mina's chirpy voice.  
  
"hey listen mina, you know with your plan ? well everything was going fine until Darien started asking me questions on the relationship. What am I supposed to say ! you didn't tell me this was going to happen."  
  
There was a pause at the other end. "hmmm, oh no everything's fine" she replied.  
  
"huh ?" I asked confused.  
  
"I don't think I'll be able to come to the arcade today, I'll pick up my bag tomorrow. Thanks for calling, Andrew !"  
  
"what ? no, mina –." I was cut off by the sound of the dialing tone. She had hung up on me. I frowned replaying the conversation in my mind and trying to make sense of what had just happened. Darien was waiting for me as I went back into the arcade.  
  
"where did you go ?" he asked, irritated that I had kept him waiting.  
  
"I had to umm, make a phone call to uhh order more coffee, it seems to be running out pretty quick today." I said faking a laugh. I might not have sounded very convincing, because he just raised his eyebrows in reply.  
  
"well aren't you going to answer my question." He asked expectantly.  
  
"what question." I asked innocently, trying to buy some time.  
  
"about me and Serena, did we fight ?" he asked impatiently.  
  
"no ! you were totally in love but on the night of the accident you had your first argument ! that's why no one wanted you guys to know about your relationship, not at first anyway." I said, proud at the story I had come up with, to convince Darien.  
  
"right. Were we . . . . you know, friends before we started going out ?" he asked.  
  
"no." I said quickly. These questions were getting complicated as they went on.  
  
"when did we first meet ?" he went on, unknown to the discomfort he was causing me. I wasn't used to lying and now that I had started I wasn't enjoying it.  
  
"you met here, at the arcade. You were in here ordering the last coffee and she came in and asked for coffee and, when you found out you had the last coffee you agreed to share it with her !" I said. Mentally Patting myself in the back for coming up with such convincing coffee related stories.  
  
*******************************Lita*************************************  
  
"you met at the mall ! you both were buying a pair of jeans but when he realized that you had your purse stolen and couldn't buy it, he insisted on him buying it for you !" I listened to mina as she spun stories about Serena and Dariens apparent relationship to Serena. And Serena seem to believe every word said.  
  
Raye seemed more cheerful than yesterday, Amy seemed puzzled. And I was just sitting on the floor of Serena's bedroom holding a bowl of popcorn watching all this happen. We had tried everything to get Serena's memory back, but nothing seem to trigger anything. We had decided earlier that morning that it would be best if nothing was said about the sailormoon matter. Nothing yet.  
  
My eyes wondered around the room, I was wondering what could have happened to her brooch, transformation pen and communicator. She couldn't have lost it. If she did that meant that she couldn't be sailormoon. That thought had never occurred to any of us. If she had found the things she would have told us and would have wanted to know what they were. But as far as I knew nothing, so far. I hope everything will work out all right in the end.  
  
There was a weird phone call from Andrew, earlier on that day. And mina had blabbed on about some forgotten bag. God knows what that girl was up to now.  
  
As I watched Serena, I noticed her glancing at the bedroom clock for the hundredth time in this morning. She caught me looking and quickly turned away.  
  
"so when is Darien going to turn up ?" mina wanted to know. Serena just shrugged in response.  
  
"didn't you guys decide on a time ?" I asked. Serena shook her head slowly.  
  
I was about to say something when the phone rang. (A.N. this is after Andrews phone call.) mina jumped saying that it was probably for her and that she was going to get it.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
(A.N. I know I usually tell you from who's point of view it is, but I left it blank for effect. Trust me you'll understand who it is at the end of this chapter !)  
  
after I had talked to Andrew I went to the far end of the arcade and grabbed a pay phone. I didn't know what was going on but I wasn't sure I was ready to meet my girlfriend yet. Everything seemed a bit weird. So that's why I'd decided to call Serena and tell her that I couldn't make it.  
  
"hello?" I asked as somebody picked up the phone.  
  
"Andrew ? this is mina, listen I'm sorry about earlier on when you called me, Serena was around so I couldn't exactly quote what you should tell Darien about their relationship. You understand right ?"  
  
I remained silent.  
  
"Andrew ?" she asked. "oh come on ! don't be mad at me! Do this for Darien and Serena's sake-."  
  
"this is Darien" I interrupted.  
  
*~*~*~*~* am I confusing you ? I know this chapter is a bit slow as well I also know I said that Raye will be playing a big part in this chapter but I changed my mind in the last minute '-' anyway do like the twist in the end ? mina is complicating things ! well I'm sorry to say that my next chapter wont be coming out for a while. Sorry for any spelling mistakes I've made as I'm typing this at four in the morning or else I wouldn't have any time to do it at all !! so anyway, like I said I have an idea for another story but I need help. This is my problem = If Serena and Darien were to chat online, what would be the nicknames they would use ? I think this gives you a faint hint of what my next fic is going to be about ! more later. 


	12. Chapter Twelve

1 'Watch Out Meatball Head'  
  
Chapter Twelve  
  
*******************************Mina*********************************  
  
"Darien ?" I repeated. I felt like I had just been punched in the stomach. One minute everything was perfectly fine and then 'Wham!' everything's in the worst possible state.  
  
There was a pause at the other end. "ok so don't you think you should tell me more about my relationship than have Andrew explain it, if you know more about it than he does ?" he asked annoyed.  
  
"Dar – Darien! I didn't know it was you, I was kind of expecting a call from Andrew. Uuh what do you mean I know more about your relationship than Andrew does ?" I asked buying for more time to come up with an explanation.  
  
"well let me quote you on this. 'Serena was around so I couldn't exactly quote what you should tell Darien about their relationship.'" He said in a high pitch voice, obviously imitating me. I frowned annoyed. "I do NOT sound like that!" I said through greeted teeth.  
  
"that is beside the point ! I want to know what it is exactly that went on between me and Serena, and I want to know every bit of it. If I am her boyfriend then I have every right to know." He said equally annoyed.  
  
I sighed in relief. He didn't suspect anything ! he thought that I was telling Andrew about their relationship, because I knew more about it than Andrew did. I was so happy. My plan wasn't ruined after all.  
  
When I didn't reply, I think Darien must've have gotten the idea that I was upset. "I'm sorry umm. Uhh…err… Mini ?" he asked embarrassed.  
  
"its Mina." I glowered.  
  
"yeah . . . . . . Mina, I know that even though Andrew and I are best friends I didn't tell him much about myself. So I guess if he didn't know much about our relationship then it would be my own fault." He said quietly.  
  
My eyes widened in surprise. Darien ? apologising ?? wish he'd done more of that to Serena.  
  
"look, does um, Serena know about you know, our relationship ?" he asked hesitantly.  
  
"yeah, I told her." I said. I could hear him sigh in relief.  
  
"um, uh, can you tell Serena I cant come over today ? I've really got to ….. to clear some stuff out of my apartment. And I'll call her and make some plans to meet sometime." He said quickly.  
  
I knew he was lying but I could tell that he needed some time, to think this girlfriend boyfriend thing over, so I agreed to pass the message over to Serena.  
  
"could we meet sometime ? you know, so you can tell me something about Serena and our relationship ? you know so I could be prepared ? it doesn't have to be you, anybody else who knows Serena would be fine !" he said nervously.  
  
I hadn't thought of that, id assumed that Andrew would fill him in on their relationship but obviously Andrew wasn't a very entertaining story maker, specially when it came to a relationship between enemies.  
  
"hold on a minute Darien, I'll ask one of the girls. I'm pretty busy this week so I cant meet you myself." Which was a total lie, but I couldn't be the only one to be involved in this matchmaker game, I was the goddess of love but I had to involve my friends !  
  
I walked into Serena's room, everyone was huddles together giggling together, about one of Serena's 'why I fell asleep in class' excuses. They all glanced at me when I walked into the room. They were all wearing the same questioning expression. Ignoring the glances, I quickly turned to Serena.  
  
"Serena can you please get us some more pop corn ?" I asked sweetly.  
  
"but we've got plenty –." She pointed at the three filled bowls and started protesting.  
  
"we'll need more if you want me to go through the entire population of boys Lita fell in love with." I said hustling her out of the door.  
  
"hey!" Lita protested. "not that many !" after making sure that Serena had left I turned to look at them.  
  
"ok, what is it ? we already got enough popcorn to last us till tomorrow." Raye said, in a bored voice.  
  
I glared at her, then turned to the other two. "that was Darien on the phone, and he says he cant make it over here tonight." Lita chocked on her popcorn.  
  
"what ? why ?" Raye wanted to know.  
  
"wait, I haven't finished yet. Darien thinks he should talk to one of us today afternoon before he goes into the whole relationship thing with Serena. So I agreed that one of us will talk to him about all there is to know about Serena. And the basics of their relationship. Andrew didn't fill in on his part as that so. . . ." I trailed off. They stayed quiet and kept starring at me. "uhuh, no way" I said shaking my head. "I've done all the work so far – so its gonna be one of you guys."  
  
"I cant I got computer class everyday after school. And today." Amy said quickly.  
  
"I have to go directly to the temple, after this. Grandpa is organizing a karate class and I need to watch out for broken limbs." Raye said.  
  
We all turned expectantly to Lita. "I . . . uhh I have . . . . uhh to have uhh . . . . at what time do I meet him ?" she asked defeated. I cheered.  
  
"he's on the phone now, go and make your plans." I said. She got up grumpily and left, just as Serena walked into the room, balancing three more buttered popcorn bowls in her arms. 'uh oh' I thought. 'how are we going to get rid of all this popcorn?'  
  
*********************************Lita********************************  
  
I muttered to myself, grumpily. I could have come up with a million and one excuses but at that time nothing had entered my mind, at a time I needed them most.  
  
"hello Darien" I said into the phone.  
  
"its about time ! I was about to run out of money ! don't you realize that pay phones cost !!" I held the phone away from my ear to keep from going deaf.  
  
"are you done ?" I asked, irritated. I was the one doing him a favour, if he was going to be like this then he could just forget the whole thing.  
  
"yeah, I guess," I could still hear the annoyance in his voice.  
  
"I'll meet you at the fast food place opposite the 'Kwik Pick' groceries store at the mall at five ok ? I asked wanting to get off the phone as quick as possible. (A.N. ok so there isn't a grocery store called 'Kwik Pick' but in this story, lets pretend there is!)  
  
"sure, you make all the arrangements !" he sneered.  
  
If I was talking to him in person then I would have strangled the hell out of him and he would be lying in a nearby ditch, left to rot. I made a mental note to remember to ask mina why exactly was Serena been matched up with such a jerk. (Litas p o v : now I understand why Serena used to hate this guy so much !)  
  
"listen Darien, I haven't got time for this ok ? I'm only doing you a favour. So lets get this over and done with." I replied trying hard not to loose control and blow up and start yelling at him.  
  
"fine." He replied. "5 o'clock at the fast food place."  
  
"right, bye" I was about to hang up when he piped up.  
  
"uhh, one problem." He said sheepishly.  
  
"what is it now ?" I asked irritated.  
  
"I don't know your name or what you look like." He said quickly. He actually had the decency to sound embarrassed.  
  
I sighed exasperatedly. "my name is Lita, I met you the other day at the arcade – I was the brunette." I said through greeted teeth.  
  
"uhh right, well I'll probably be there first. I'll get a table. So when you come in, you can find me and come over and sit at my table with me." He said quickly, not wanting to deny the fact that he didn't remember what I looked like.  
  
Not wanting to be on the phone longer than I needed with him, I agreed and hung up.  
  
As I turned around I almost ran straight into Serena. I gulped, wondering how long she had been standing behind me. Now that I took a closer look at Serena's face she looked a bit sick, as though . . . . she couldn't possibly know . . . could she ?  
  
*******************************Serena*******************************  
  
I had been downstairs to get cans of sodas for everyone, When I ran into Lita, who was just hanging up the phone. That girl was like a rock, and running into a rock isn't exactly the most pleasant feeling (Serena's p o v : specially if you had forced yourself to eat popcorn!). I felt all the popcorn in my stomach, which mina had forced us to eat, churn. I took a deep breath trying not to feel sick.  
  
Lita looked at me, she looked alarmed.  
  
"I'm sorry Serena, I swear its not what it seems! its all complicated, and I cant tell you right now what it is but trust me ok, its not what you think !" she buttered out, panicking. She grabbed me by the shoulders and started shaking me, as though trying to force the thought into my brain. But all she was managing to do was make me feel even more sicker.  
  
"Lita. !?" I managed to gasp. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, but whatever it was she was getting very worked up about it. And all the shaking was too much to take. I heard dull thuds as I lost grip on the cans and they fell on the floor. Suddenly Lita let go of me, which caught me off guard. I lost balance and spun around trying to grab something stable so I could hold myself. Unfortunately Amy came out of my room to look what the noise was all about so I found myself grabbing her and all of a sudden we both lost balance and fell on top of Mina who was directly behind Amy. Raye, who was behind Mina, stepped back but Mina had managed to grab her foot while falling, which pulled her on top of us.  
  
There was a shocked silence as we lay on the floor unmoving. After a long silence, Lita appeared and starred at us. Then she burst out laughing. We remained silent, then I found myself giggling. And in a matter of minutes we were all hysterical.  
  
"why ahh we laughin' ?" (why are we laughing?) Raye gasped out, clutching her stomach's again. Nobody replied because that only made everything funnier. After what seemed like years we finally managed to untangle ourselves, and pull ourselves up. But every time one of us let out a giggle we ended up on the floor, clutching our stomachs. But when we did calm ourselves, I got up and went into the hallway to pick up the cans and found that one of cans had sort of exploded and had spilt over the carpet. (A.N. it was sort of a fizzy drink, it didn't exactly 'explode' but you know what I mean !) I went downstairs to collect a sponge to start cleaning the mess up, when Lita appeared.  
  
"since it is partly my fault, I'll help you clean it up." She offered taking the sponge out of my hand. I agreed and we went upstairs to start clearing the mess.  
  
"Lita ? what were you talking about when you know, you started shaking me ?" I asked. I was more than a bit confused over that. She looked unsure.  
  
"you mean . . . . did you hear me on the phone ?" she asked. I shook my head slowly. She sighed in relief. "its nothing really !" she said returning to scrubbing the carpet. Well what ever it was that was bothering her seemed to have gone, so I didn't bother to ask any more questions. Instead I concentrated on getting the stain out of the carpet before mum came home.  
  
********************************Amy*********************************  
  
while Serena and Lita had cleaned the stained carpet mina, Raye and I were sitting crossed leg on the floor. I glanced casually at Raye. "you never got the chance to tell us what happened with Serena ?" I said quietly, not sure whether it was a subject she wanted to bring up or not.  
  
She didn't seem annoyed that I had bought it up. In fact she smiled. "you guys were right, she does forgive easily. I'm glad I talked to her and got things sorted out. Do you know that she didn't even want to know why I said all those stuff about her." She paused. "guys, you know all that stuff I said, yesterday at the arcade ? well I didn't mean it." She looked sad.  
  
"have any of you guys seen Luna ?" I asked attempting to change the subject.  
  
"oh yeah, I forgot, I was meant to tell you. She's staying with me and Artimus while things get sorted with Serena. She feels pretty guilty about Serena's fall." It was just like Mina to forget to give important information like that. I rolled my eyes.  
  
Just then Serena and Lita walked in. they settled down on the floor next to us, and we continued our story telling hoping that there would be something in that would trigger Serena's memory. Most of the stories were a list of Lita's boyfriend's as she insisted on Serena knowing every one of them. In the middle of one of Lita's 'how I fell in love' stories mina made some comment on how 'limited the amount of fish there were in the sea, and if she was gonna eat them all now, their wouldn't be any more fish left for the rest of them.' Which I think had something to do with 'there are plenty of fish in the sea' which somehow Mina had got into her head that fish were related to boys and that going out with boys meant eating them ??? and I don't think Lita heard Raye's comment on 'if she wants a guy, she goes for it – nothing is in her way to stop her.' Which I don't think Serena nor Lita heard. As we continued talking, we heard a faint click of a key being turned downstairs and the door being opened.  
  
"Serena honey ? are you ok ? sorry I'm late ! I got a bit held back" came Serena's mums voice, from downstairs.  
  
I glanced at the clock and got the shock of my life. I jumped to my feet. "guys, I didn't realise it was so late, its past four ! I'm late for my computer class, I have to run. BYE!" I ran out of Serena's room. Raye, who was calling out "I need to be at the temple or else, there'll be too many hurt people", closely followed behind me.  
  
********************************Lita*********************************  
  
I glanced at the door, and stuffed some popcorn into my mouth. 'it couldn't be that late.' I thought as I glanced at the clock. I almost chocked at the sight of the clock. It was past four ! I would have to leave in a few minutes if I wanted to meet Darien on time.  
  
"I wonder what time Darien goings to be here. Don't you think he should be here by now ?" Serena asked us. I turned to look at Serena, startled. Then I slowly turned to look at Mina. "you didn't tell her ?" I asked her incredulously.  
  
She blushed, "I'm so sorry Serena, I forgot ! he called earlier on and he said that he couldn't make it, something about uhh, too much work to do. He said he'll call you and make plans to meet up again." She said quickly, embarrassed.  
  
"oh" was all Serena said, obviously disappointed. I reached over and gave her a hug.  
  
"don't worry about it. He is your boyfriend. He said he'll call you." I said squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. She smiled gratefully at me.  
  
"you should know, you've had enough boyfriends to last you a life time." She said giggling. 'figures, I try to reassure the girl and she thanks me by insulting me !'  
  
I gave the clock a final glance. "I better go or I'm going to be late for my uhh thing." I said getting up. "I'll see you guys later." With that I quickly got up and left the room, not wanting to answer any more questions than I needed to.  
  
I knew that my parents were working late today so I decided to take the risk of not going home and leaving a note – I didn't have time to do that anyway. I made a dash to the bus stop and made it just in time to see the bus disappear around the far corner of the street. I sighed. This wasn't going well – not one bit. I checked the bus time table, it would be another fifteen minutes before the next bus would be coming. I sighed and glanced at the street lights, they should have been on by now. It was pretty dark for four o 'clock but it was nearing winter so it was o.k. weather. I walked into the bus shelter and leaned into one of the far end walls, I yelped in surprise as the wall gave away and I lost balance.  
  
"I've been mistaken for many things but a wall, is definitely unusual." Came a deep voice, as an arm held my elbow to steady me. I looked up and found myself starring at a pair of gorgeous hazel eyes. Without realising it I had mistaken him for the wall of a bus shelter and leaned on him. I blushed realising how ridiculous my that sounded. I let my eyes travel around the length of his body, then finally met his eyes. Of course, I had an excuse he was dressed in black entirely, from the black tennis shoes to the black baseball cap he wore on his head, not to forget the fact that he had black hair, that fell lightly over his eyes. (A.N. this is NOT Darien!!)  
  
"so how much do I score ?" he asked tilting his head to a side and looking at me expectantly.  
  
"huh ?" I asked in confusion, it took a while for me to stop starring at him and take in what he had just said.  
  
"well, I do realise when I girl is checking me out. And I must admit you're not the only one who is doing the looking. Its not all the time I take the bus, get mistaken for a wall and meet a gorgeous girl, all at the same time !" he looked amused. "I'm Pete." He smiled at me.  
  
"I'm Lita," I managed to gasp out. Sure I wasn't exactly what you'd call ugly but I've never been called 'gorgeous' so openly by an equally gorgeous hunk.  
  
Just then a bus arrived. He side stepped me, "this is my bus, nice to meet you Lita, may be I'll get the pleasure of seeing you around sometime." He said, giving me a final smile, he got into the bus. I watched the bus disappear. I sighed. For the remainder of the stay till my bus arrived, three words repeated it self in my mind. ' I'm in love'.  
  
I was quickly snapped back to reality when I walked into the fast food place, which was actually called 'Fast Food', I glanced around at the Formica tables trying to spot Darien. I spotted him after a few minutes, he was sat at a corner booth at the back a table for two which was facing 'Kwik Pick, glancing at his watch. I braised myself for the earful I was going to get for being fifteen minutes late.  
  
I walked over at the booth and stood facing him for a few minutes, he starred at me.  
  
"Darien ?" I asked.  
  
"yeah, Serena's friend right ? sit down." I sat and waited. He didn't say anything. I glanced at him nervously. Something wasn't right.  
  
"look, this is very awkward for me o.k. I mean getting my girlfriends friend to fill me in on my girlfriend, that is usually unlikely, so I'll just ask the questions and you answer, got it ?" he asked, his tone impatient.  
  
"shoot." I replied, ignoring his impatience.  
  
"three words you'd describe her in ?"  
  
"blond, blue eyed, and slim." I replied.  
  
He sighed in exasperation, "I meant in personality !"  
  
"oh . . . . right. Um, sweet, funny and uhh." I fumbled in my mind for another word. "sleepy ?" I managed to say.  
  
"sleepy ?," he repeated incredulously.  
  
"well, she falls asleep, a lot in class !" I said, annoyed.  
  
"so now your saying my girl friend is a ditz." He muttered.  
  
"hey ! Serena is NOT a ditz, maybe a bit clumsy but NOT a ditz." I glared at him.  
  
"sure, whatever." He replied, a frown appearing on his face.  
  
This wasn't going alright. I wish I had been prepared for this. But I wasn't, not one bit.  
  
*******************************Serena********************************  
  
Mina had left a few minutes ago, I crawling around in the floor of my room picking up stray bits of popcorn that had gone flying across the room while we were talking. I was glad that they had come, but I was still a bit disappointed that my so – called – boyfriend hadn't been able to make it. Throughout all this I wonder why everybody decided to tell me now instead of later on.  
  
A yell came from the kitchen, downstairs. I ran down to find out, what was going on.  
  
"mum ? what's wrong ?" I asked as I appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. She was standing in the middle of the kitchen in the middle of half unpacked grocery bags, her hands on her hips and a frustrated look on her face.  
  
"oh Serena, you know tonight, your fathers boss is coming for dinner and I've left a bag in the shopping store, and it had to be the bag with the chicken in it !" she threw her hands up in defeat. "I cant go back now, I wouldn't have enough time to make dinner, and the traffic is awful at this time." She sighed sinking into a chair.  
  
I thought for a minute. "the mall is about three blocks away, right ?" she pulled her hands away from her face and nodded. I glanced at the bags which read 'Kwik Pick' in bold red letters. "so that must mean 'Kwik Pick' is in there somewhere." I continued. Her eyes narrowed.  
  
"what are you getting at Serena ?" she asked suspiciously.  
  
"well," I said. "what if I ran over to the mall and get the bag for you ?" I asked excitedly.  
  
She jumped out of her chair, in relief. "you're the greatest !" she cried hugging me. Then she frowned as she let me go. " I cant let you go ! you still got amnesia and your father wouldn't like it, and you only got home from hospital a few days earlier. I'll send Sammy instead."  
  
"you cant, he 's staying over for the night at a friends house, remember ? and anyway its not like you're sending me to Hawaii on my own or anything, its just a few streets to cross. I'll find the place easily. Plus dad would probably agree to it himself, its either sending me to the shopping centre or ruining his diner with his boss." I said.  
  
With a little more convincing mum agreed to let me go. It only took minutes to reach the shopping centre, but finding 'Kwik Pick' was a bit more complicated than I had expected. I had to ask for directions three times, before I found the place.  
  
I had a list of the items that were in the bag. So when I reached the cashier she directed me towards the manages office, where all lost items that were left behind customers were kept. He recognized me, he said that I looked a lot like my mother (!!!) and that I was always over at the 'Fast Food'. I politely told him that their had been an accident and that I had lost my memory. He looked sympathetic and said that if he could ever help it was that I always went into the 'Fast Food' with four other girls, after school.  
  
After thanking him for both returning the bag and telling me where I always went, "where's the 'Fast Food' ?" I asked. He laughed and pointed behind me.  
  
"exactly across from here." He replied.  
  
I turned around and glanced at what he was pointing. I felt myself stiffen. With a last thank you to the store manager I walked out of 'Kwik Pick' my eyes still locked on the two figures sitting at a booth for two at 'Fast Food'. Lita and Darien. My friend and my boyfriend. "if she wants a guy, she goes for it – nothing is in her way to stop her." Raye's words echoed in my mind.  
  
*~*~*~* another cliff hanger !! looks like I've got my 'touch' back ! sorry this took ages to write up, but I'm in the middle of writing the prologue / chapter one of my other story. So it'll be coming out in a few days !! sorry for any spelling mistakes – hope you like it !!! I know that instead of Lita it should have been Raye that went to meet Darien as it would have been weird seeing that she went out with Darien before. But because mina, and Raye already played a pretty big part in this story I decided to start getting Lita and Amy involved. More later ! 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

1 Watch Out Meatball Head  
  
1.1 Chapter 13  
  
*********************************Serena*********************************  
  
Clutching the shopping bag firmly in my hand I walked out of the 'Kwik Pick'. The two figures of one of my best friends and the other of my boyfriend closely huddled together, Lita was laughing and Darien was leaning closer towards her, from across the table, they were seated at a table for two only a few steps away from me. They looked like they were having a good time.  
  
I felt a pang, like I had just been slapped in the face. In a way I had been slapped – slapped by reality. Darien had called and cancelled saying he had other 'stuff' to do, Lita had left claiming she had her own 'stuff' to do and now that I thought about it; Lita's phone call was probably from Darien. Her guilty face floated through my mind.  
  
'Fast Food' was directly in front of me. I could just step inside and accuse them. . . . Or I could just walk away. I stood there, frozen in my place; the picture of them huddled at the booth framed in my mind.  
  
A sudden tap on my shoulder interrupted my pondering. "Excuse me. . . . Serena?" I turned around to face the voice. It was a pretty curly haired red head; she had a strong accent, and was about my height. And she looked vaguely familiar. I smiled at her politely. She squealed as soon as I faced her. Then jumped on me enveloping me in a bear hug and managing to hit me in the head with the box she was holding at the same time.  
  
(Serena's P o v. my second day back home and I've already manage to fall and get hit on the head enough times to have my brain permanently damaged.)  
  
She stepped back and looked at me, a grin lighting up her face. Whoever she was, she was definitely happy to see me. "Uhh. Hi!" I said unsure. She must have realized that I didn't know her because she slapped herself and laughed.  
  
"Silly me! You don't remember me, do you? Because you got amnesia, well I'm Molly. One of your friends in school. I heard you came home last night, I went over to your house just now but your mum said you were here, so I decided to come here! Surprise!" she continued. "Well I missed you a lot Serena. And I hope you get your memory back. . . . . I'm really sorry." Her voice softened and tears started to fill up her eyes. "I thought I'd never see you again! And then – then I came to see you at the hospital everyday but – but. . . . but they wouldn't let me stay the night with you." She was sobbing now, tears streaming down her face freely. I have never seen someone's emotion change as quickly as Molly's did from happy to sad.  
  
"oh Molly," I said my voice barely audible. Then I let the bag drop from my grip and wrapped her in a comforting hug. "I'm glad I have friends that care." I whispered. My own eyes were starting to fill up with unshed tears. She let out an unexpected laugh suddenly.  
  
"you always were a cry baby ! I should have known better than to start bawling in public, specially in front of you !" she giggled, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. I looked around, sure enough a couple of people had gathered and some were giving us raised eyebrow looks. Ignoring them I picked up the bag I'd dropped.  
  
"come on, we better get home and get this chicken in the kitchen." I said. She picked up her own box, which was white and had a white ribbon wrapped around it. She saw me looking and smiled.  
  
"you'll see what it is as soon as you get home !" she winked and grabbed my arm, leading me out of the shopping center. Suddenly remembering what I had witnessed before the arrival of Molly, I glanced as casually as I could at the booth where Lita and Darien had been seated. The booth was now empty. I frowned, glancing around trying to spot where they had disappeared. But I found nothing. Had I imagined all of it ? giving the empty booth a final glance and trying to forget the whole 'Darien and Lita' thing I turned to Molly and tried to pay attention to what she was saying. But for the rest of the journey home, part of my brain was still conscious on the matter of Darien and Lita . . . . after all they had both lied to me. I may be willing to dismiss some things but how long could I keep pretending that nothing was wrong – how long was I going to keep accepting the limited amount of information my so-called friends were providing me. How long will it be until I started looking for answers for myself ? I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be very long, and in an uncanny way I was right.  
  
*********************************Molly**********************************  
  
I hadn't lied when I said that I had missed Serena, because I had. And I had visited her everyday. The truth was that as soon as I heard that she had come home yesterday I had wanted to go and see her then and there. But when I had called her mother, her mother had said she had already had friends over and that it would be best if I could come and see her today as she needed rest. I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't been one of her friends to see her first. I had always been her best friend since kindergarten. But that was until earlier this school year. Then she had started going around with the other four girls. I hadn't minded, but I was aware that whenever I had joined in, or walked in, on the middle of their conversation they all went quiet. I also had a distinct feeling that Serena was keeping something from me. And it didn't help my state of mind that she always had to rush out on me without an explanation not to forget that sometimes she didn't even tell me where she was when she had 'forgotten' that she was supposed to have come over to my house.  
  
In more than one way, you could say that I was jealous of her new friends, well not 'of' her friends but the part in which they shared 'secrets' that I obviously didn't know and wasn't included in. I had never told Serena I felt this way. I felt too embarrassed to bring it up, sometimes I started to but then chickened out. I didn't know any of them personally, except for Amy of course since we went to the same school. On the way home, I knew that Serena was only partly listening to me – or maybe not at all. But I chirped on anyway, not wanting there to be an awkward silence. Serena was very silent, she said almost nothing.  
  
Sometimes I kidded myself thinking that she had a very good explanation for all this, like she was working undercover for the FBI or that she was riding the world of evil. But I always knew that deep down it was something more. . . . .  
  
**********************************Darien********************************  
  
I tried not to fall asleep as Serena's friend went on about one of her ex- boyfriends. I don't even know how we got into that subject. We were supposed to talk about my girlfriend not her ex's. and boy, she must have started dating since she was in her diapers either that or she had a different boyfriend for everyday of the week for the last three years. When she finally stopped to take a breather I butted in before she could go on.  
  
"uhh, so . . . Serena ?" I said trying to think of something to say.  
  
"oh yes, Serena. . . . . . what about her ?" she asked questioningly. I took a deep breath trying to keep myself from blowing up.  
  
"well that's why we're here. You have to tell me about Serena." I replied through-greeted teeth.  
  
"oh. . . . well um ok. What do you want to know ?" she asked.  
  
"how about . . . . EVERYTHING ?? for gods sake Lila, I don't know 'anything' about her !" I said my patience slipping. Usually I was a pretty patient guy but I had my limits.  
  
" its Lita!!!! And if you forgot, I'M the one doing YOU the favor here." She said aggravated.  
  
"whatever, but if you ARE doing me the favor then can we please stick to the subject. I didn't ask for your boy friend history." I replied equally frustrated.  
  
She opened her mouth to reply then snapped it shut. Then she sat down. I hadn't even realized we were standing. A few people near our booth were giving us pitying glances. I frowned and sat down myself.  
  
"you ask me questions that I can answer, and I'll answer as best as I can." She hissed.  
  
"fine," I replied. "tell me uhh . . . how old is she, her birthstone, school ?" I finished.  
  
"ok, I can do that. Her birthday is on the 30th June, her birthstone is pearl. She's a cancer and her blood type's o. she's in the second year of junior high. Oh and she's fourteen years old." She responded.  
  
I sat back, and starred at her in shock. "she's 'fourteen' ?" I repeated. Lita looked at me confused. She nodded. "fourteen ??" I couldn't believe it. I knew she was younger than me but – fourteen ? that was ridiculous. She was four years younger than me !  
  
Lita raised her eyebrows at my dumbfounded expression. "I'm only giving you the facts." She retorted.  
  
"fine," I murmured. "what else ? like her favourite subject in school, favourite food, colour ? and what she hates" I said trying to put away the fact that my girlfriend was so young.  
  
"ahh that's a tough one, her favourite subject in school . . . . well I guess that would be home economics. She absolutely hates maths and English. She loves cake and ice cream, but despises carrots. Her favourite colours are pink and white." She said thoughtfully  
  
I sighed. How could she hate maths ?? maths was very similar to physics, and physics was my favourite subject. So far we had absolutely nothing in common.  
  
"so she cooks," I said trying to find a common ground.  
  
"what ? heck no ! Serena – cook ?" she burst out laughing. She was laughing so hard she had tears flowing down her cheeks.  
  
A few more people were shooting us peculiar looks. I couldn't blame them, one minute we were arguing and looking like we were ready to kill each other the next she was laughing so hard she had a hard time sitting up straight. "will you keep it down." I whispered, leaning closer towards her. She gasped trying to keep from laughing, but she didn't quite manage to stop the wide grin from spreading across her face.  
  
"now, will you please explain your behavior," I said trying to keep my voice light. Her bottom lip quivered lightly and another tear fell down her cheek, she was trying to keep a straight face, but not succeeding. She opened her mouth to reply but instead burst out laughing again. I sat back on my seat sighing, this was going to take a while.  
  
When she finally managed to regain her posture, she replied. "well uhh, I don't want to burst your bubble, but Serena cant cook to save her life ! the last time she tried to make toast she set the kitchen on fire !" then she resumed to continue laughing.  
  
"Lita ! people are looking, get yourself together !" I hissed.  
  
"ohh what ? oh Kay." She replied, wiping her tears.  
  
"if she doesn't like cooking, then why does she like home economics ?" I inquired, confused.  
  
"I dint say she didn't "like" cooking, I just said she couldn't cook. In fact, she loves to eat." Lita said knowingly.  
  
I rolled my eyes. "she must have some other hobbies instead of eating, all the time."  
  
Lita paused thoughtfully. "well she does – no I don't think that counts as a hobby." She said shaking her head.  
  
"what ?" I asked desperately. "tell me ?"  
  
she looked at me unsure. "well one of her hobbies is definitely eating but the other has to be sleeping."  
  
For a minute I just starred at her, "oh come on. She has to do something ! read ?"  
  
"I don't think she knows how to read !" she gasped, amused.  
  
I glowered at her. "that's not funny."  
  
"who said I was kidding ?" she replied, managing to keep a straight face this time. I shot her a warning look. That silenced her, surprisingly.  
  
"well, if she doesn't cook, what does she do in her spare time ?" I asked.  
  
"I already told you, she eats and sleeps and she likes to play games at the arcade." She replied, her voice was starting to get an edge of annoyance in it.  
  
I sighed exasperatingly. "how can she be my girlfriend if we have nothing in common !" I hadn't meant to say it loud, but I obviously I had.  
  
"well you know what Mina says ? 'opposites attract !'" she countered. I groaned and buried my face in my hands, in reply.  
  
"well, since we are past that subject, do you have any gorgeous friends called Pete ?" she wanted to know.  
  
I lifted my face up from my hands, "why ?" I asked. What could that possibly have to do with anything.  
  
"well I met this gorgeous guy, on the way here and I mistook him for a . . . . ." she went on, but I tuned out after a while. Instead my eyes scanned the 'fast food'. It was pretty crowded today.  
  
I wondered about Serena, lots of things about her didn't make sense. Like the flashback I had about her. Plus my apartment had nothing of hers or even a picture of us. It made me wonder exactly how long we had gone out. If we were going out then where were those memories ? why hadn't I gotten at least one flash back concerning us. The only one I had gotten, was when we were in the park, and that had been a confusing one. Now that I thought about it, Serena had looked different – also I hadn't called her Serena, I'd called her Serenity ? other than that there was the other one in which I had insulted her, plus we were at the arcade at that time, a public place. So why had Andrew lied about our arguing ? suddenly it dawned to me what I had to do. Of course ! why hadn't I thought of it before. It was the most obvious thing to do. I turned to tell Lita, but something caught my eye. I turned around and found myself looking out of the screen window of 'fast food' and at the front of 'kwik pick' the groceries store. And standing in front of it clutching a shopping bag was Serena talking to a red head. I gasped. Did she see us ?  
  
I grabbed Lita from her stool and dashed to the other end of the restaurant, and pulled her down behind a potted tree. Once we were out of Serena's view, I turned to face Lita. She had a strange look on her face.  
  
"what do you think, you are doing ?" she raised her eyebrows questioningly, and was about to get up from the floor.  
  
I tugged her back down, "Serena's in front of the grocery store!" I hissed. "she could've seen us !"  
  
Her eyes went wide. "she is !?" she shot off the floor again.  
  
"Lita ? are you trying to get us seen or what ?" I grabbed her arm attempting to pull her back, behind the potted tree.  
  
"why ? whats wrong if Serena saw us ?" she questioned, confused. "its not like we were doing anything we weren't meant to." Standing up next to the potted tree, in full view to Serena.  
  
I didn't really know, how to answer that one. "well, did you tell her that you were meeting me here ?" I asked.  
  
"hell no!" she gasped and dived back behind the tree.  
  
*********************************Serena********************************* at night, in bed, after the dinner with her fathers boss . . . .  
  
I sighed and pushed the duvet cover from on top of me to the carpeted floor of my room. It was unusually stuffy today. And it didn't help that I couldn't sleep. I starred at my ceiling trying to blank out my mind and sleep. It didn't work – because all I could think of was Darien and Lita. Technically, that wasn't true, because my mind was restless and it kept thinking of several things all at once. For example Darien and me, and our so – called relationship – that wasn't there. The little gadgets I had that were unexplainable, and the fact that my friends were hiding something from me, where did molly fit in, in everything ? and sailor moon.  
  
I sighed again and turned my head to the side to stare out of my window, the window was steamed up from the heat.  
  
I wished I'd just get my memory back, everything was such a mess of confusion right now. I couldn't help but feel useless. I was a prisoner of my own mind. My mind was right though, I cant keep accepting the vague answers I had received from my friends, I had to go looking on my own. But where could I look ? I glanced across my room at my closet. I was not going to get luna's litter box mixed up with something else again ! heaving myself up from my rumpled bed, I got up. Where was that cat anyway ? I hadn't seen her since the day she scratched me. I opened the closet door, her litter box was no longer there.  
  
Despite the heat I felt a shiver creep up my spine, I had a weird feeling – like something was wrong, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong.  
  
'beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep' a muffled sound sounded, near my bed.  
  
What was it ? I wondered, quietly approaching my bed. It was coming from my drawer, it wasn't loud enough for my parents to hear. But I couldn't help but glance at my bedroom door nervously. My parents were pretty protective over me, ever since the day I had come home. So I quickly pulled open the drawer and glanced inside the it.  
  
It the little calculator – look – alike gadget. (A.N. the communicator) that's what was making the beeping sound. I slowly reached down and touched it. As soon as my hand made contact with the smooth metal I had another flash back.  
  
~ (start of) FLASH BACK  
  
I was like watching my body move, I had no control over it. It was the middle of the night and I was asleep but the beeping sound woke me up. I watched as I grabbed the drawer and pulled out the little gadget.  
  
"Raye ? whats wrong ?" I heard myself say frantically, into the gadget.  
  
"the temple, get to the temple – I've already told everyone else. Grandpa is in trouble ! get here as fast as you can !" Raye's unhappy voice floated from the metal square box.  
  
"I'm there !" I replied. I watched as I grabbed something else from the drawer, it was the small brooch. I threw my hand up in the air. "moon crystal power"  
  
I watched in amazement as I transformed yet again into sailor moon.  
  
Then ran across the room to the window and pulled it open and jumped out easily.  
  
~ (end of) FLASH BACK  
  
I gasped, and starred down into the beeping gadget. i quickly switched it on.  
  
"Everyone get to the mall, near Domino's pizza ! see you there !" came Amy voice, and then it was over. I starred at it in confusion. What was I supposed to do now ? in my flash back I was leaving, but …now ? how could I ? I was already confused as it was, but should I do what Amy had asked me to do ? I glanced at the open drawer, in there was the pen and the little brooch that was supposed to transform me. My glance darted from the little box gadget that had given me the message to the brooch inside my drawer. I knew what I had to do.  
  
********************************Darien**********************************  
  
I shot out of bed in surprise. My body was drenched in sweat, and the white sheets were sticking onto me. The weird bit was because I didn't know why. I searched my brain to any indication of a nightmare but I couldn't remember anything. I frowned. I hadn't had a good day. I glanced at the alarm clock, it was just before 2 a.m. in the morning. I groaned, what ever it was that had woken me up, was still in my mind …..somewhere. and I knew that I would not be able to sleep until I figured out why.  
  
Suddenly an immense pain stabbed into my stomach and started spreading. I doubled over in pain and bit my lip to keep from screaming. What was going on ? what is happening to me ?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~* I bet you think that she's going to go help her friends !! well, theres only one way to find out – and that is to wait till I get the next chapter up ! sorry it took so long to update, but I had my exams and I was pretty busy. But I promise that I'll update this as soon as I can – even if I have to stay up all night ! 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Watch Out Meatball Head !  
  
Chapter 14  
  
*******************************Serena********************************  
  
if I was sailor moon, then it would explain the two flash backs I had had. I didn't need a third one to prompt me. I grabbed the pen, metal box and the brooch. (A.N. transformation pen, communicator, and transformation brooch) I knew that I needed the brooch to transform and the metal calculator-look-alike box would give me messages. I wasn't sure what the pen was for, but it must have something to do with being sailor moon.  
  
I pulled off my pyjamas and slipped into the clothes I had worn the day before. I hopped around trying to get my shoes on, both at the same time. (Serena's p.o.v. don't try it. Unless you want to end up on the floor on your butt !)  
  
I quickly grabbed the baseball cap that I had borrowed, the night before, From Sammy, and pulled open the window. I groaned silently as I looked down from my bedroom window. If I was transformed it would be so easy for me to just jump out, but from high up here – right now, with me just being Serena, not the super hero who saves the world, I would only break all my bones. I cursed silently, under my breath.  
  
'it looked much easier in the flash back' I muttered as I shut the window. Id have to risk taking the back door again, and this time I just hope that Sammy wouldn't be up when I returned. I glanced at my Luna-clock, it was just after two, I'd be able to come home before four, if I was lucky. Not that I knew what I was looking for.  
  
I wasn't sure exactly what was going on. I was almost positive that the message Amy had just sent wasn't meant for me. But if it wasn't meant for me, did it mean that I had other super hero friends ? if Amy was one of them who were the rest of the girls ? and molly ? Darien and Andrew ? did my parents know ? that I doubted.  
  
Even if they knew, which I doubted highly, they weren't going to like me creeping down the stairs and leaving the house, in the early hours of the morning, after only a few days back home. In fact, I wasn't going to stick around and find out.  
  
I gently slipped into the kitchen, and unlocked the back door as quietly as I could. Then, stepping outside, I closed the door gently behind me. Only after I had heard the kitchen door click shut, that I remembered I hadn't taken a spare key. I winced.  
  
"ditzy" I mumbled out loud. I'd have to deal with that later, I have to get to the mall right now. I made a dash across the street, making sure to stay out of view to my parents bedroom windows. I took the familiar route to the mall, and arrived. I groaned as I entered the empty mall – all the shops were closed and locked up for the night, there was no sign of anyone. How was I going to find domino's pizza ?  
  
If I didn't know where to go – what was the point in me being here ? I crept to the right hand side of the mall and made sure I stayed close to the entrance of the shops. I slipped the baseball cap on top of my head, piling my hair underneath it. If anyone arrived – anyone I knew, I didn't want to be seen.  
  
I looked around nervously, everything was quiet, I could here my footsteps echo softly on the ground. I flinched – it was going to be hard to keep a low profile if there wasn't a crowd to hide in.  
  
I was so consumed in my thoughts that I almost ran straight into a wall. I stepped back in surprise. It wasn't a wall at all, in fact it was one of the circular pillar of white cement which ran from the ground to the high set ceiling. I had seen a lot of them while I was walking through the shopping mall. They were always in the middle of the path. Why would it be right in the middle of the path ? I questioned silently. I walked around it, and almost laughed out loud at my own stupidity. The pillar, had a blue board with the number of floors, and maps of where the shops were located on it ! I quickly scanned it, looking for domino's pizza.  
  
It was in the west wing on the third floor. I groaned, this was really not my day ! I had been walking in the opposite direction, heading to the north wing. I turned around and started sprinting back to the entrance, where I had seen a bunch of elevators and the entrance for stairs. I glanced at my watch, almost 2.30 a.m. I have to hurry up, I thought as I increased my sprint into a run.  
  
A few minutes after that I reached the elevators, I pressed the up buttons and waited patiently for the elevator to arrive.  
  
I took some time to think about what I was getting myself into. What did this mean ? would I have to fight ? if I really was sailor moon, that would mean I had to destroy evil . . . so I would have to fight ?! no, I thought firmly. I was just investigating. As long as I don't get seen by the others I will be fine. All I have to do is stay in the shadows, and be quiet. I shivered, in the cold night air. I punched the elevator buttons a few more times. Where was the damn thing ???  
  
I glanced at my watch, again, impatiently. 2.39 a.m. I didn't have enough time. What ever it was that Amy had meant, she had said to get to domino's as soon as we can. If I waited for the elevator I would be here all day. I looked at the stairs. 'I guess I'm stuck taking them'  
  
I reached over and pushed, it wouldn't budge. 'Oh great !' the door was stuck. I took a few steps back and made a dash towards the door, trying to heave it open using my shoulder. "ouch" I moaned. Rubbing the burning pain on my shoulder.  
  
I tried kicking it, banging it, breaking it, but it wouldn't budge.  
  
"somebody let me out !!!" I yelled, forgetting about keeping a low profile. My voice echoed through the empty mall, but no one answered to my pleas. I clenched my fist and started punching the double glazed door frantically. What if Amy was in trouble ! what if she 'had' been talking to me, when she had asked me to come here. What if she was dead right now, being eaten by a monster ! it would all be my fault ! all because the elevators weren't working and I couldn't get the stairway door open. I sobbed, feeling the hot tears stream uselessly down my cheeks.  
  
"somebody, please !" my half hearted voice rang out, between sobs. I started sinking onto the floor when a blur of blue and white plastered on the door caught my eye. I rubbed my eyes, clearing my vision, trying to make out what it was.  
  
A blue and white sticker, that was stuck to the door, which clearly read PULL in bold letters. I couldn't believe this. I reached over, unsure. And tugged at the handle. It eased open easily.  
  
*******************************Darien********************************  
  
The pain moved from my stomach and spread to my shoulders. I groaned, as the pain pierced through my neck. 'what's happening to me ?' I thought. I felt like screaming or breaking something. But I knew I couldn't. I lived in a third floor apartment, and anything that happened here, anyone to my right, left, above and below apartments were bound to hear me. And that wasn't the smartest thing to do right now. I didn't know what the pain was or why it had suddenly occurred, but I couldn't give in to it.  
  
I pushed away the sheets and swung my feet over the edge of my bed. Still clutching my stomach I got up, instantly the pain increased. I groaned grabbing the window ledge for support.  
  
~ (start of) FLASH BACK  
  
I was standing at the edge of an empty street, opposite me was an apartment complex, the one I lived in. it was night, probably about 9.30 p.m. I glanced around the empty streets. Suddenly I heard foot steps, I turned around to face them, it was me ??? I was wearing black trousers and t – shirt with a teal coloured blazer and clutching a bunch of text books in my arms. I watched myself as I drew closer.  
  
I was confused. Its not everyday this sort of thing happens. I guess this must be a flash back – but it was a strange one, 'cos it seemed so realistic. I wondered what could have triggered it.  
  
I took a step back startled as my form crumpled in front of me in pain. I was clutching my stomach and then I completely collapsed on the ground. I glanced around for help, wondering what should I do. I turned back to my form and took an unsteady step towards it. Swiftly, a bright pink light enveloped my form and I squinted through all the light trying to make sense of what was happening.  
  
Then the light faded, and the crumpled form stood up. I blinked a few times, trying to adjust my eyes to the light. I gasped. I was no longer Darien . . . . . . I was . . . . Tuxedo Mask ? . . . . the super hero ?  
  
The form in front of me dashed towards me and ran straight through me before I could make any effort to move. I turned and watched as my form leaped onto a roof and then proceeded to move from one building top to another. (A.N. umm … I'm not exactly sure this is how Darien transforms into tuxedo mask but lets just say this is !)  
  
~ (End of) FLASH BACK  
  
I blinked again, I was standing in my apartment again, by the window. I felt beads of sweat run down my forehead and drip onto the carpeted floor. I gasped trying to get my heart beat to slow down. Breath in. breath out. Breath in. breath out . . . . I thought steadily. That last flash back was of me . . . . breath in. breath out. . . . transforming into tuxedo mask ? . . . . breath in. breath out. Breath out. Breath out—wait that wasn't right.  
  
I swiped my hand over my mouth, and furrowed my brow in pain. The pain was returning again. What ever it was I wasn't going to give into it. I was going to fight it. Even if it took all my strength.  
  
Still doubled over, I ran my hand through my limp hair, and made my way across my room towards the kitchen.  
  
I was walking through the living room repeating 'I can fight it' under my breath when a voice interrupted my thoughts and chant.  
  
"don't fight it." It was a girls voice, a voice I wasn't familiar with – one I have never heard before. I turned to face who ever it was.  
  
I was prepared for a girl – yes, but not one hovering a few feet in the air, and definitely not a hologram either. From what I could see The girl had long dark black hair, which had a dark green sheen to it a long fringe fell carefully over he eyes. Her eyes were dark, but I couldn't make out their colour. All I could see was from her waist up. she had a familiar costume, which had a mixture of green and white except for the dark red stone, set in the middle of her bow-tie ribbon. (A.N. I'm sorry ! but I'm not very good at describing the sailor costumes or even their features, so in your mind can you imagine sailor Pluto ! if someone wouldn't mind, telling me how exactly it is that you describe sailor Pluto – you'd be a great help !)  
  
"who are you ?" I asked in confusion, forgetting about the searing pain, I stood up, until I felt the pain run up my arms, which led again to me doubling over. I glanced at her, from my uncomfortable position. I could see right through her !  
  
"don't fight it" she repeated.  
  
"who – what are you ?" I said, determined to keep fighting what ever this pain was. She must have sensed my determination because she smiled amused.  
  
"Darien, you cant fight it – so don't." she said, ignoring my question.  
  
"so you know who I am – lets have the introduction both ways. So will you tell me who you are ?" I said sarcastically as possible.  
  
Her smile faded. "don't fight it." She repeated. I was getting seriously annoyed with that sentence. And it didn't help that she was right – the pain was increasing steadily and each time I was having a hard time keeping it from affecting me. I'd have to give in eventually. "I'm Sailor Pluto." She replied softly. "I'm here to help you – not hurt you. If you keep fighting the urge you're not going to have any energy left to fight." She finished, her voice low but firm.  
  
"fight ?" I asked confused. "fight what ?" but before I could even look at her for an answer the pain tripled, my eyes widened in surprise, and I felt a warmth envelope me and then the pain stopped – leaving me light hearted. When I opened my eyes again, I was kneeling on the floor, I got up to my feet, trying to clear the fuzzy feeling at the pit of my stomach. When I looked at the person who claimed to be sailor Pluto, her face remained expressionless.  
  
I looked down at myself, sure enough, I was wearing black – actually the simplest way to put it was that I 'was' tuxedo mask, just like my flash back. I turned to sailor Pluto. I needed answers and I needed them now. "what do you mean I have to fight ?" I questioned.  
  
"you're a super hero, you have to fight and protect the world from evil. You have to bring justice to the world and fight for the good of mankind." She said patiently as though telling a toddler the difference between right and wrong.  
  
"me ? why ? what evil ? isn't that what sailormoon is their for ?" I asked frustrated and confused. (A.N. I know that in the anime, its sailor V that's well known and not sailor moon, but for the sake of this fic – I added some changes ^_^)  
  
"you help sailormoon and the rest of the scouts, sailormoon isn't quite herself right now – and the remaining scouts need all the help they can get. Go to the mall – Domino's pizza. You'll find the answers you need, your questions will be answered when the right time comes." She replied knowingly. Her hologram blurred slightly, creating a fuzzy image.  
  
"but what about me ? what do I do ? I cant fight ! I don't know how to fight ! how am I supposed to know that you 'are' the good and not the evil ?" I exclaimed. Her image blurred a bit more.  
  
"you'll find your answers when the time has come. Trust your instincts and I will be there to guide you, when you need me. Look deep inside you, Darien. You'll find what you want." Her voice was quiet but hasty. Before I could protest – her hologram disappeared completely. Leaving me standing in the middle of my living room beaten and bewildered.  
  
"then help me now ! why do I have to do this ? why cant you just give me the answers now, instead of having me to go over there ? help me, if you're there to guide me !" I spoke out to nothing in particular. I waited for some kind of break through – for her hologram to reappear and start giving me answers, I waited for something. But nothing came.  
  
I sighed and starred at the toes of my black shoes. I knew what I had to do. No matter what I couldn't avoid my destiny. I walked across the living room and stepped out onto the balcony, leaving the balcony door slightly ajar, I climbed onto the roof of the 7 floor apartment building. I definitely had the gift to ease over buildings, without making any noise. I walked to the edge of the top of the building and leaped to the next rooftop, I was astounded and intrigued by what my physical ability allowed me to do. I reached the mall in a matter of seconds.  
  
*********************************Amy*******************************  
  
At Domino's Pizza . . . .  
  
I starred at the monster that stood a few feet below me. Actually it wasn't a monster at all – it was a person. A woman, she had long golden blond hair, which fell down her shoulders loosely, and dark blue eyes. Her face would give the impression of innocence to anyone looking at her. She was dressed in a short brown suit, her skirt stopping inches above her knee. Her cream coloured blouse peered above her blazer which wasn't buttoned up.  
  
I had been on my way to my mothers doctors office, because she had had an emergency on some sort of document on another client who had had food poisoning – there had been quite a few of them in the last few days. It would seem kind of weird to be up early morning at 2 a.m. but I was used to it. My parents had all sorts of emergencies and they went in to work at any time possible. So I was used to getting out of bed to run errands like these. But on my way through the empty mall, I had noticed an eerie glow coming from inside domino's pizza. Instantly I felt that something was wrong, so I had disappeared to the girls bathroom transformed into sailor mercury and went to investigate.  
  
I had gotten into the pizza parlour easily, but I hadn't expected to see a monster who had was dressed entirely in black Goth clothing and had sort of short spiky hair on one side and shoulder length straight hair on the other. Her hair was dirty brown and her exposed skin that wasn't covered from her short sleeved black top and trouser was limy green and dotted in red spots. Her eyes were an unusual shade of dark red and orange. And her face was twisted in a frown. She was wearing black stiletto heels which clicked when she walked. She was pacing through the restaurant and talking into a mobile phone. Because I hadn't been able to hear her clearly I had crawled under a table and moved closer to her – but even then I had only managed to hear only a part of her conversation as she hadn't remained still, with her pacing.  
  
"we need the energy . . . . . . . help . . . its working . . . . .no way . . . . . find . . . . . impossible to trace . . . . and we need . . . . takes . . . time to activate." Her voice was a contrast against her appearance. It was soft and sweet, except right now her voice had a tone of pleasure. I watched as she stopped pacing and clicked her mobile. She turned towards the counter, her eyes glowed red piercing through the otherwise dimly lit pizza parlour. The empty shelves behind the counter filled up with hot pizza's my eyes widened in disbelief. I didn't need any more proof that she was not human. I crept back out of my hiding place.  
  
But before I could make a move towards the door, there was a topple a few tables behind me, as a chair fell on its back. The monsters' attention snapped instantly from the pizza's to the toppled chair. I glanced nervously behind me.  
  
I hadn't done that . . . . That meant someone else was in here, with me. Hiding.  
  
"who's there ?" the monster growled an unpleasant note thickening her voice. There was a bang on the back entrance, which switched her attention towards it. I took that opportunity to move swiftly closer to the entrance.  
  
"Roxie ? are you in there ? its me Donald McCoy." A male voice rang out behind the back door.  
  
The ugly monster changed into the beautiful woman who stood before me. She walked towards the door letting the man in. "sorry Donald, I was at the back checking on the pizza's. I must have not heard you." She let out a laugh. Her voice was now sweet and had an edge of innocence.  
  
I hadn't wanted to get caught so I had managed to sneak out and slip into the girls bathroom sending an instant message to the rest of the scouts. Now I was hiding behind the railing of the floor above her looking directly down at her figure, who was still talking to Donald. I was too far away to make out what they were talking about but I could tell that Donald had a crush on Roxie and that he hadn't just appeared o talk about business. I glanced down nervously. Where was everyone ?  
  
********************************Serena*******************************  
  
I was in a pretty grumpy mood. I was feeling pretty embarrassed after the whole door incident. But I also silently thanked god, for it not being very 'public'. I was about two floors above domino's pizza, because I didn't want to be seen by any one, and so far I hadn't. when I was coming closer towards it. I slipped of my shoes and started tip toe-ing towards the parlour. I peaked down through the railing. A floor below me, I saw a girls' head peer down, she looked vaguely familiar but was dressed in a costume of blue and white. She was crouched down so I couldn't see her very well. But I guessed that she must be one of the sailor scouts.  
  
I pulled myself up a bit more, trying to get a clear view at who the girl was looking at, by domino's. a very attractive women was standing in front of Domino's talking to a not so very attractive man – who was so obviously drooling on her.  
  
There was a sudden crash as a high set window broke and a figure in black flew through it. Landing on the floor near domino's at the feet of the woman. She screeched in surprise and made a dash to the opposite direction at the exact same time I let out a startled yell. The man panicked and started kicking the crumpled figure in black. Just then there was a crashing noise and three pairs of feet thundered towards Domino's pizza. They had the same costume except that the colours were red, green and orange. That was when everything turned into total chaos.  
  
*~*~*~*~* I hope you guys aren't disappointed by this chapter 'cos it has nuthin to do with Serena and Darien, but I'll make sure that there'll be more Serena and Darien action in the next chapter . . . . . as soon as I write it, that is ! I'm going on holiday for a few days – so the next chapter wont be coming out until after a week, but I promise I'll get it out by the end of next week.  
  
This chapter was kind of a hilarious one, and it bought out the ditzy side of Serena's personality, what with her door incident. So sorry for all the Serena fans who didn't like it !!  
  
~Crescentmoon Bunny 


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Watch Out Meatball Head ! Chapter Fifteen  
  
(A.N. I'm backtracking up to where everything turned to absolute chaos - and telling you what happened through the others point of view. But I wont be backtracking this entire chapter, don't worry ! I promised that this chapter was gonna have some Serena / Darien action - so I'll try to stick with my promise ^_^) *********************************Lita******************************** 'Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep' I was in bed in the middle of a dream - of Pete's and my first date, when the communicator went off. I groaned, and turned over in my bed hoping that the communicator was a dream and not the date. I heaved myself up -and blinked open an eye and at the startling noise of the communicator as it continued its quest to waking me up. I quickly pressed the talk button and listened as Amy's urgent voice rang through it. "Everyone get to the mall, near Domino's pizza ! see you there !" her voice rang out through my otherwise quiet room. It quickly bought me back to reality, and I forgot about Pete and the dream and quickly grabbed my clothes changed into them, grabbed my communicator and tip toed across my room to the door. I wasn't worried of waking my parents up they had arrived home late - as usual, but today they seemed extra tired, so they had gone straight to bed. I lived in an old Victorians house, (A.N. Which isn't particularly true, cos I don't know what Lita's parents do for a living or what type of house she lives in - so being me, I made it up *_*) which was dark inside, despite how ever many windows it had. It made loads of creaks whenever you moved across the wooden floorboards, now that I think of it - the house was always settling. So I usually didn't have any problems slipping out of the house without making much noise. What I did worry about though, was the darkness. If I did switch on any lights my parents would notice, (Lita's P.O.V. my parents aren't that dead to the night world.) but without lights its VERY hard to find your way through the house. Which is how I ended up stumbling down the stairs and making a tremendous amount of noise. I slumped down at the foot of the stairs and waited for the creak of the door, and the click of the light, as my parents would come to investigate. Silence. I slowly moved my head up and risked a peek up the stairs, no one was there ! I sighed in relief, whispering a silent prayer thanking god that my parents hadn't woken up, I quickly dashed to the door before I had any more clumsy attacks that would get me caught. I slipped to a stop in front of the front door when I remembered that I had forgotten to grab my transformation pen. I groaned. I glanced at the stairs from where I was standing, I would have to climb all those steps to my room. It was either walking in the dark and stumbling, and this time getting caught - or risking it by switching on the light. I made my decision as I reached the end of the stairs, I reached over and switched the light on..  
  
********************************Darien******************************* 'ok, I can do this' I thought as I eased over buildings without making any effort. To tell you the truth I felt like superman - this was way to easy for me. When I reached the mall I glanced at the blue board at the entrance, it directed me to the west wing, on the third floor - that was where 'Domino's Pizza' was. I hesitated at the entrance. I couldn't go in through the entrance it would be too obvious. For all I knew, the enemies were probably waiting for me right through this door. I glanced at the roof of the mall, it was pretty tall, but I guess I could be able to jump that high. I was still at the entrance though - which meant the north wing, so I had to head around to the right side, of the shopping mall. I swiftly moved towards the shadows and blended in, taking short and quick steps towards the west wing.  
  
I approached it in a matter of seconds, I let my gaze travel through the length of the west wing wall, it didn't have an entrance, not that I would use the entrance anyway ! it had a few purposely-high-set windows - but I was positive I could make it, if I jumped. I was the super hero Tuxedo Mask after all, wasn't I ?  
  
I bent down on my knees and used all my strength as force to push off from the ground, my eyes were locked on the high set window ledge, which I estimated was where the third floor would be. I watched as the ledge grew closer in distance, it was about a meter above me, when I started to slow down. I gasped startled, this was definitely not part of my plan, I tried to scramble up the last few feet - but as you might have already guessed, scrambling in the air - with absolutely nothing to support you - can have disastrous results.  
  
'Damn Physics' I muttered, as Newton's found force of gravity caught up with me and I started to move down instead of up. Physics was one of the subjects I enjoyed - but this was one of the times, actually the ONLY time I wished that physics never existed.  
  
Usually I didn't like people who dissed physics, or any other subject for that matter, just because they didn't understand it. But that was what I did, I swore to hell and back, right up until I felt the sole of my shoes hit the ground with force that knocked the wind out of me. I fell in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the building. (A.N. this is not the bit - where all the scouts come running in. (the end of the last chapter) 'cos he fell 'outside' the building - here ...and there he.. I am confusing you here aren't I ? I'll just leave you to figure it out, yourself !) I rubbed the back of my legs. Ok so maybe I had 'over estimated' my physical abilities. I got up carefully making sure that I didn't have any broken limbs - or an unattached arm. Ok, so maybe jumping up more than 10 feet in the air wasn't one of my greatest ideas, but hey, I tried ! I stepped back and bent my knees, I felt a jolt of pain spring through my knee caps. I winced. I took a step forward.  
  
I started walking towards the opposite side facing the shopping Centre, each step I took the pain decreased, and finally it vanished completely. I glanced up to look where I was. I was a few hundred feet away from the building but fake tall trees that had twines wrapped up around them surrounded me. At the center of them was a large old willow tree. Onto one of the tree's there was a billboard hammered advertising a movie 'George of the jungle' (A.N. I think that IS what its called, it's really old but funny. I was gonna put Tarzan but changed my mind) My gaze swept from the bill board to the willow tree branches. You could almost see the light bulb go off at the side of my head. I had an idea.  
  
***********************************Lita****************************** I waited. Nothing. The light was on but there was no sound of my parents getting up. I tip toed back upstairs. Their bedroom door was shut. Thanking my lucky stars that my parents were too tired to notice I grabbed my transformation pen and dashed back downstairs and out of the door, towards the mall. I could worry about my parents later. Amy needed us urgently. I was already late as it is. I started running towards the mall as fast as I could. It was a few blocks away from home, it wouldn't take me long if I ran, a maximum of ten minutes. I reached the mall soon, I was wearing trainers thank god, so my shoes weren't making much noise against the linoleum floor. Making sure I was creeping around under the shadows I made my way silently as possible towards Domino's Pizza. I'd been to 'Domino's Pizza' enough times to know that it was in the west wing on the third floor. I couldn't hear anything but I hoped that it wasn't because my friends were lying on the floor dead to the world. I was just around the corner to the pizza parlour when I remembered that I needed to transform. I glanced around and quickly slipped into the nearest rest room. instantly I was enveloped in darkness and them grabbed and pushed down roughly.  
  
********************************Raye********************************* If grandpa hadn't gotten up at the sound of the communicator beeping I would have gotten to the mall faster. But it took time trying to convince him that It only beeped because the battery was low, and then he had wanted to know what exactly it was. I had mumbled some kind of explanation on a 'communications studies' I was doing in school and that I was doing a project on beepers, e mail, telephones and tv's and how they were used socially to communicate among teenagers. That had been the easy bit, getting him to go back to bed was the harder bit. Then he had caught me on my way out of my room all dressed up. (Raye's POV well not dressed up - but out of my night clothes, I couldn't exactly go to the mall in a kimono could I ?) (A.N. is that what its called ? the white thing with the red ribbon tied around her waist ?) I had to make an excuse on me going to the toilet. By then grandpa had been full of suspicion. I didn't have any choice, I had made a run for it out of the temple deciding that I could explain it to him when I got back. I was on my way to the third floor when I saw a slim figure taking steady steps on the staircase leading down towards the basement. My eyes narrowed, what could she be doing in the mall in the middle of the night -unless she was part of some evil plot. Creeping down behind her, I lunged on top of her, tripping her. She yelped, and I clasped my hand over her mouth to keep her from yelling out for help. Twisting her arm around her back I turned her around to face me. I didn't hang around grandpa's karate classes without picking up a few pointers that cam useful now and again. I found myself starring at a very familiar pair blue eyes. My grip loosened when I realized who she was. She took that instant to break free from my grasp. "Raye" she whined. "What do you think you're trying to do ? Get me killed ? We are suppose to be fighting evil TOGETHER and not fighting EACH OTHER!" Mina yelled at me. Her high pitch voice echoing through the quiet and empty basement parking lot. "Mina" I hissed. "shhhhh ! quiet !!! I didn't know it was you !" I said trying to get myself together and trying not to show my embarrassment at jumping at my own friend. "oh that's ok." She replied smiling and giving me a hug. "friends forever, girl power !" "Mina" I cried forgetting to stay quiet and twisting out of her grasp. "this isn't the time and place for this" I said. "what are you doing in the basement anyway ?" she pouted. "well I thought we were supposed to meet at domino's pizza." I looked at her confused. "we are. But what are you doing here ?" She looked at me impatiently. "I'm going to Domino's pizza, duhh !" "Uhh Mina, Domino's pizza is on the third floor and your in the basement ?" Mina's eyes widened with recognition. "Oops ! my bad." (A.N. at this point you'd see Raye sweat drop ^_^') "Come on, we are late as it is." I led her to the third floor and we slipped into a restroom so we could transform into our sailor forms. "Why don't they have lights in here ? are people suppose to check their make up in the dark ?" Mina demanded. "Mina, it's the middle of the night - do you think that the managers should switch the lights on so sailor soldiers fighting evil should be able to use the rest rooms ? Next thing you'll be asking for sailor soldier discount at shopping stores !" I exclaimed. Her eyes lit up. "What a great idea Raye ! think of all the stuff we could get !" I groaned. "Lets just get on with it and go and help Amy ok. We pulled out our transformation pens and were about to transform when someone pushed open the door and ran straight into us. I grabbed Mina to keep myself steady. But she only lost her own balance. It took a while to get ourselves together. "Lita ?" I asked incredulously. She peered at me surprised. "You guys are not dead !" She replied happily. CRASH breaking of glass Lita Paused. "If you guys are in here with me, and the evil is out there . . . . and mercury is out there .." "AMY !" we cried in unison. We transformed and rushed out at top speed, towards Domino's pizza. In time to see tuxedo mask lying on the floor in a pile and been kicked to death by a middle age balding man wearing glasses.  
  
********************************Darien******************************* Ok so maybe my great idea wasn't as great as I thought it would be. I had climbed up one of those fake trees and using the branches of the willow tree swung up to the window. (A.N. you know like Tarzan does.) but I figured I would need a lot of force put into the swing I didn't want to end up like last time, walking in mid air. That had been ok, except I forgot that being Tuxedo Mask gave me extra strength making the force I exerted onto the swing intensify. That's how I swung straight through the window instead of stopping at the window ledge. And now I was lying on the floor being kicked to death by someone. My landing onto the third-floor floor hadn't been any smoother. I was causing a definite commotion, there were yells and thundering footsteps headed my way. Instinctively I held out my palm and a smooth black walking stick appeared. I quickly twisted my arm and used that to trip my attacker. I had no idea where the stick had appeared from but I thought it probably was some sort of Tuxedo Mask attack.  
  
********************************Amy********************************* I was startled when someone broke through the window and landed not so smoothly in a pile at the feet of Donald McCoy, but with a destiny of being a sailor scout and protecting the world from evil I had learned to expect the unexpected but seeing TUXEDO MASK lying in a pile on the floor was a bit too much for me to handle. A little after that the rest of the scouts appeared and I snapped out of my alarmed trance and quickly slipped down from the floor above them to join the scouts. As I was doing that I heard a small gasp and shriek behind me but when I turned around to face whoever it was, they shrunk back into the shadows. Thinking that I'll check it out later I continued down to the third floor.  
  
********************************Mina******************************** When the girls and I arrived to Domino's we saw Tuxedo mask at the feet of middle age quite unattractive man. He was kicking tuxedo mask and tuxedo mask was just ..lying there ?! A nervous giggle escaped my mouth. The others turned to look at me. I gave them a sceptical look. So I had a habit of laughing at the most inappropriate times what could I do about it ? Tuxedo Mask was struggling against the vigorous kicks that went flying all over him - but I wasn't really paying attention 'cos I was craning my neck looking for Sailor Mercury, there was no sign of her. If Sailor Mercury had got us up in the middle of the night to get a looksy at a battle between tuxedo mask and this guy - well then she was gonna be in BIG trouble. Sailor Mars and Jupiter were standing a few paces behind me, not knowing what to do. "Do you thin the old guy's a monster ?" Sailor Mars asked curiously. "Well if he is - he's not doing a good job of attacking. He's just ...kicking. Any normal person could do that -without powers" Jupiter said confused. "Do you think we should help Tuxedo Mask ?" I asked helpfully. "So that IS Tuxedo Mask. I uhh... had my doubts. Usually he'd be a bit more umm in control ?" Sailor Mars said in distaste. "I say we butt in." Jupiter said suddenly. Mars quickly agreed. I don't think she liked the 'weak' side of tuxedo mask very much. "JUPITER THUNDER-." "MARS FIRE-." They were both cut off by a yell behind us. "GUYS ! NO !!!! DON'T !!! STOP !!!!!!!!!!! HE'S HUMAN!" it was Sailor Mercury. We turned towards her our mouths open in surprise. Why was tuxedo mask wrestling a human ? "I'll tell you the whole story later, come on. We got to separate them." She said rushing forward. Now the tables had turned and tuxedo mask was standing with the other guy sprawled across the floor, taking the beating. Jupiter was the first to have what Mercury said sink in. she shot off after Mercury. They both grabbed Tuxedo Mask from behind and pulled him away from the other guy, who was cowering on the floor and begging for mercy. Mars finally snapped out of her trance and grabbed my arm. We both helped the guy up who was actually crying. I shot Mars a disgusted look but she only ignored me.  
  
*******************************Darien******************************** I looked at the two girls, who had grabbed me from the guy who had started attacking me. "What do you think you're doing ?" I gasped, out of breath. Struggling unsuccessfully against their grip. "Tuxedo Mask, what do you think you ARE doing ?" the blue costumed girl starred at me in surprise. "You can't attack a human, like that." She said firmly, a look of disapproval plastered on her face. "And to think that he was loosing." The red costumed one, muttered. I glowered silently. I wasn't the one doing the attacking. Who did they thing they were ? s bunch of teenage girls in matching costumes of different colours, telling ME, a super hero, what to do. "Who do you think you are ?" I said finally tearing out of the green's grasp. They looked at me confused. The red costumed one, who had kept her distance amid her disgust, now approached me. "what do you mean ? don't you know who we are . . . . . . . . I knew it ! This isn't even Tuxedo Mask ! this is just some wannabe !" she said triumphantly. "Hey ! Of course I'm Tuxedo Mask . . . . I just don't remember you, that's all." I said mustering up all my dignity. "And I'm most definitely NOT a wannabe." The yellow costumed one rolled her eyes dramatically. "We are the sailor scouts Duhh ! We fight evil together, remember ?" she said. "oh yeah." I said weakly. "I remember." I muttered. They all locked their questioning gazes on me. I avoided them. "C-c-could-d I-I g-go n-now . . . p-p-l-l-leas-e." the guy stammered, interrupting. The scouts gazes darted from me to the guy. "I just remembered I've got to do . . . . something uhh - somewhere." I said quickly. Taking a step backward, away from them. They didn't say anything. I quickly turned and started walking away from them before they changed their minds. "hic" "WAIT ! tuxedo mask." I frowned. If they were sailor scouts, that meant they could attack me - hurt me. "hic" I paused mid-step. When I turned back towards the girls, they were shooting me weird glances. "hic hic" "What ?" I asked confused. "you might want to drink some water, before you leave." Red costume said dryly. "I would - if I WAS the one with the hiccups." I replied curtly. Then turned in my heel. And left before they could say any more.  
  
*~ *-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~ *-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~ *-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~ *-.,,.-*~*-.,,.- *~ *-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~ *-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-* the next day . . . . . . .  
  
******************************Raye*********************************** Amy had pretty much filled us in about the freaky monster / lady character, and what had happened before Donald McCoy arrived at the parlour. Luna had arrived shortly after accompanied by Mina's guardian cat Artimus. We managed to take Donald back home and put him to bed. He had been pretty freaked throughout the whole incident. We were all together at the temple, discussing the events of the day before. "So what do you guys make of Tuxedo Mask ?" I asked, that had been stuck to my mind all morning. "he seems . . . . . . . weird. Not himself." Lita said absentmindedly. She had been like that since she arrived to the meeting. Something about a guy she met at the bus stop. She'd filled us in more or less on how everything went with Darien and according to her not so smoothly. "and the hiccups bit was funny . . . in a way." "I still don't get the joke." I replied sourly. "Maybe it wasn't him who was hiccuping." Mina said. I glanced at her, she was examining her nails. She may not understand what she means but sometimes her words make us realize stuff that are just right in front of our noses.. I had to admit it had never occurred to me that it could have NOT been Tuxedo Mask with the hiccups. "If it wasn't him - who could it have been ?" I asked slowly. Was someone spying on us ? that sent a shiver up my spine. "Well before you guys came - I thought I saw someone on the floor above me . . . . so it could have been someone else ?" Amy said helpfully. "It could have been the monster lady." Lita said interested. "it still doesn't explain Tuxedo Masks behaviour. We are already sailor moonless we need all the help we can get. And with Tuxedo Mask on our side it could've helped the situation but now . . . . . . I wish I knew why he was acting so weird." "Specially that bit where he didn't know who we were." Amy added. "Maybe he had a memory loss - you know an accident. Like Darien had !" Mina said, enthusiastically. We all turned to stare at her, even Lita seemed to snap out of her day dream.  
  
******************************Serena********************************* "hic" not again . . . .I groaned as I pushed myself up into a sitting position on my bed. I grabbed the water bottle from under my bed and took a sip. Last night had been . . . . . interesting, to say the least. Kind of funny, if you had a sense of humour. But in my position I had almost blown my cover. Thank god - the scouts had thought that it was the guy in the black cape - tuxedo mask. And tuxedo mask had thought it was one of the scouts. But before anything else could happen I had quickly slipped out of the mall. I had seen more than I had wanted. I didn't understand much - if anything I was more confused than clear of the situation. And it looked like tuxedo mask was in the same position as me. We should sit down some time and talk I thought glumly. We could play the 'who are you' 'who am I' game. We both seem involuntary contestants of the game. My parents had gone out to visit my aunt, leaving Sammy and me home. I had taken up the offer gladly - wanting to lie in bed forever. 'ring ring' to answer the phone I'd have to get up . . . . . get out of bed . . . 'ring ring' 'ring ring' reluctantly I got up and picked up the phone, stretching lazily. "hello ?"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~ sooooo sorry that it took so long to get this chapter up !!!! well now that its finally done I have to work on chapter 16 . . . . when does all this work ever end ::sigh:: well anyway I know I said that I'll have more Serena & Darien action in this one but I didn't know how to fit it in - so watch out for the next chapter . . . . are you wondering who the caller is ? all I'm saying is that it's a guy - I bet you think its Darien ! well you'll just have to wait and see !!!!! *C*Bunny* 


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Watch out meatball head ! Chapter 16 (A.N. be prepared for some Serena & Darien action - I know that the last two chapters haven't had anything to do with them two ! ~sorry ! the last chapter uploaded in a mess and it was hard to read - but I tried my best on this one !)  
  
********************************Darien*******************************  
  
I hadn't had much luck falling asleep, so I was up early. But my muscles felt pretty sore - probably because of the beating I took from the guy.  
  
I didn't know if I was prepared for another encounter with those girls. I felt totally washed out and humiliated. And the worst bit was that it was in front of a bunch of teenager girls who thought they knew better than me - in which of course they were right.  
  
"who do those damn girls think they are ?" I spoke out loud.  
  
"the sailor scouts." Replied a voice behind me. I whirled around a bit too sharply, I felt a stabbing pain pierce through the back of my neck. Still rubbing the back of my neck I turned to look at the hologram of the green haired girl who called herself 'Sailor Pluto'. "and they are not 'damn girls' they save the world from evil everyday, think you could be a bit more grateful and maybe less resentful." She replied.  
  
"think you could knock before entering." I said sarcastically. "I could've been changing and that would have been embarrassing" I continued rationally.  
  
"there are worse things to be embarrassed about, I suppose." She smirked raising an eyebrow. Momentarily I looked at her genuinely confused. "yesterday. Mall, near the pizza parlour. Pretty lame attempt for a super hero don't ya think ?" instantly I felt my entire face turn a deep shade of red.  
  
"how do you know ?" I muttered, blushing.  
  
"I know and see all, Darien. That's how I know when to visit you and when not to." Her smile disappearing and her expression turning serious. "how are you ? you took a pretty bad beating from the guy."  
  
"yeah, and you were there to help me." I retorted sarcastically an attempt to disguise my embarrassment.  
  
"I am forbidden to leave my post at the gate of time by Queen Serenity, that's why I'm always here only through a spirited hologram. And I repeat Darien, I see all and know all but I cant do anything to control or change the destiny of one." She replied gravely.  
  
At this my frown only deepened. "who were those teenage girls anyway ?" I said in an attempt at changing the subject.  
  
She sighed. "I already told you- they save the world from evil. Like you. A 'super hero' as you call yourself." How does she know so much about me ? I thought annoyed. "that would be because I can read your thoughts, a gift from queen serenity - up until your memory is fully restored." (A.N. I don't know if Pluto has that ability but - I need it in my story !!!) I starred at her startled at the thought. My thoughts wondered uncontrollably to when exactly she had started this 'reading thoughts' business. Again reading my thoughts she smiled. 'long enough' she said without opening her mouth.  
  
"what ? how did you do that ??" I asked confused. She laughed out loud but in my mind she said 'not only can I read your thoughts but I can also talk to you without anyone hearing. So I'll be in your mind whenever you need me.' Just what I need I thought sullenly, forgetting that she could read my thoughts.  
  
She gave me one of her raised eyebrow looks. I just rolled my eyes and turned away. 'this is going to be interesting' she said into my mind.  
  
*~*-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~* three hours later  
  
Pluto had explained who the girls were, the sailor scouts - the red Mars, green, Jupiter, blue Mercury, and yellow Venus. And she had also vaguely mentioned sailor moon. She had gone all-hesitant when I asked about sailor moon. In the end I had to drag it out of her. She said that she was another scout who didn't yet know she was sailor moon. But all in all she had left after a maximum of fifteen minutes, she really took her job seriously at her 'post' - either that or it was just me she couldn't stand being around.  
  
Not only the whole saving the world business but I had much more to do like think about cleaning the apartment - it really did look like a dump, then there were my evening classes, I didn't really feel up to going to them but by missing I was only gonna cause more hassle for myself, and then there was the girlfriend thing . . .  
  
So a little later in the morning I decided to go and visit Andrew, at the arcade. he must have been expecting me because as soon as I came in, he glanced and waved quickly, motioning to a seat at the counter.  
  
He smiled. "So ?" he asked wiping a tall glass with a yellow rag. I looked at him blankly. "how did it go ?" he pressed. My expression didn't change. He couldn't have known about the 'tuxedo mask' thing.  
  
"what are you talking about ?" I asked.  
  
Andrew rolled his eyes heavenward, "Mina already told me that you were gonna meet up with Lita for details on Serena. She also said it was your idea. So what gives ?"  
  
"oh" I said, amid all the 'excitement' of this morning I hadn't had time to quite think about it. "well err.. it went ....well." I said avoiding his eyes.  
  
"are you prepared to meet her yet ?" he asked eagerly.  
  
"Well actually ---." But I was cut off by him.  
  
"got to make a quick phone call, be right back."  
  
*********************************Andrew*****************************  
  
I motioned one of my co-workers to take over for me while I went into the backroom, where the payphones were kept. I rummaged around my apron pocket for some change, and quickly pulled out a quarter. Pulling out the piece of paper handed over to me by Mina, I dialled the vaguely familiar number.  
  
After about ten rings, I was ready to hang up when an irritated voice answered. "Hello ?" I smiled, knowing her she probably was still in bed. "Good morning Serena."  
  
"uhh hello." She replied hesitantly.  
  
I slapped myself mentally -she probably didn't know who I was ! "its Andrew - do you have any plans for today Serena ?"  
  
"oh hey Andrew ! well no, not really." She didn't seem happy about her not having plans.  
  
"How about coming over to the arcade ?" I asked quickly, keeping my eyes on the pay phone screen, I didn't have much time left.  
  
"I guess so, when ?"  
  
"how about now ?" 15, 14 . . . . 13 seconds left.  
  
"Now !!?!"  
  
"yeah, there's someone I'd like you to meet. So just hurry up and get here ok ?" 8, 7 . . . . 6 seconds  
  
"Well . . . . I could come over now. How about in-."  
  
BEEP BEEP (dial tone )  
  
"-about 20 minutes." Serena finished, to the dial tone, to no one in particular.  
  
*-.,,.-*~ ::Serena, opened mouth, staring at the phone:: (Serena's P.O.V. "ok now THAT was weird.") ~*-.,,.-*  
  
I groaned. I just hope she got the message and came to the arcade.  
  
********************************Lita*********************************  
  
Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. Pete. . . . . . etc. those were just along the lines of what I was thinking.  
  
I was on my way home after the scout meeting and had decided that maybe I'd be able to find Andrew or maybe Darien himself and ask them about Pete. So here I was at the arcade.  
  
I was just stepping inside when I saw Darien disappear at the other end of the arcade - the last time we had met, everything hadn't gone smoothly. To say the least ! so I had no intention to having a conversation with him.  
  
"Hey Andrew." I said cheerfully plopping myself down at a stool near the counter. Andrew looked pretty busy. He was serving a customers and he flashed me a quick be-with-you-in-a-minute smile.  
  
I took that time to drift off in another day dream starring you-know-who (A.N. Pete)  
  
*-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~ 15 minutes later  
  
::Andrew standing across the counter from Lita, snapping his fingers in front of her glazed over eyes and dreamy face::  
  
"HEY ! Earth to Lita !!! HELLLOOOOO anybody home ?" the nagging voice cut into my dream interrupting the romantic scene.  
  
I snapped out of my day dream, irritated. "What ?" I glared at Andrew's humoured expression.  
  
"I don't suppose this has anything to do with yesterday ?" Andrew asked looking a bit confused. (A.N. Andrew's referring to the bit where Darien invited Lita for a get-to-know-your-girlfriend-without-your-girlfriend talk. And Lita thinks he's referring to meeting the new guy 'Pete.')  
  
I looked at him surprised. "Darien told you ? ohh . . . isn't he dreamy . . . . ."  
  
Andrew looked away he looked thoroughly uncomfortable. (A.N. if you haven't already guessed, Andrew thinks Lita's referring to Darien.)  
  
I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts and snap out of the trance. I felt myself flush. "you wouldn't happen to know where he is would you ?" I asked eagerly.  
  
"uhh . . ." Andrews eyes flicked to the empty counter, possibly looking for a distraction.  
  
"He's sssooooo hunky, with his black hair and dark eyes. I am so glad I met him yesterday -." I glanced up at Andrew, he was looking at someone standing behind me.  
  
I whirled around to face Serena. She looked pale maybe a bit sick.  
  
*******************************Serena********************************  
  
'He's sssooooo hunky, with his black hair and dark eyes. I am so glad I met him yesterday -.' She could only mean Darien - I had seen them together, with my own eyes. It didn't help that her face broke into a broad smile as soon as she saw me. "Serena ! hey !" she looked so honestly happy. But some of my sickness must have shown on my face because her expression quickly switched from happy to concern. "are you o.k. ? you don't look so good."  
  
"I - I'm fine." I said softly. "I just need to sit down." I finished weakly.  
  
"You guys want your usual ?" Andrew spoke over the counter. I nodded even though I had no idea what my 'usual' was. He smiled. "good, its on the house, Serena. A welcome back chocolate sundae with extra rainbow sprinkles coming right up." (A.N. I imagine this is the sorta thing Serena would order.)  
  
"Hey ! what about me ?" Lita exclaimed.  
  
*********************************Andrew*****************************  
  
quickly sending their orders, I slipped out from behind the counter and made my way across the arcade to where Darien had disappeared after I had come out of the backroom from making the call. I had hoped that I'd have a minute to talk to him, but there was no sign of him.  
  
'for the first time on her life Serena's on time - she had arrived in about 15 minutes - and I desperately needed her to be late !!!'  
  
I finally caught sight of Darien starring fixatedly at a sailor V video game booth. 'Maybe if he started liking 'Sailor V' him and Serena would have something to talk about.' I thought amused at the image of Darien playing a video game. He definitely needed to loosen up and maybe Serena would be the one to do it- assuming that Mina's plan worked and they fell for each other . . . . . if it didn't - we move onto plan B - prepare for world war three.  
  
However, when I reached him and was standing a few inches in front of him, he was still frozen in a queer position the same startled look plastered across his face.  
  
*******************************Darien********************************  
  
I was standing a few feet from the finally empty 'sailor V' video game booth. A few weeks back a new game had been released, and after Andrew had disappeared I had wandered off to see what all the commotion was about.  
  
But as soon as I placed my finger on the booth that I felt the air rush out of my lungs and a bright light flash in front of my eyes.  
  
~ FLASH BACK ~ (start of)  
  
I was standing behind of the same booth I had been holding only a second ago - well 'I' wasn't standing there 'another' me was. It was sort of like watching a movie - except that 'I' was in the movie.  
  
That girl was seated at the booth - Serena - my supposedly 'girlfriend'. She didn't look very happy - other than the fact that she was soaked and her hair was hanging around her in messy tangles - and I didn't think she knew the movie-guy-me was standing behind her. She was playing the Sailor V game.  
  
The words 'GAME OVER' flashed on the screen. And she groaned under her breath. If looks could kill that game would be toast. Then I was clapping. She whirled around startled at my presence.  
  
"Nice. Very 'impressive'" the Darien said to her.  
  
She glared at the Darien, I had a towel slung around my neck and another folded one, held up in my hand.  
  
"How long have you been standing there ?" Serena asked narrowing her eyes.  
  
"Long enough" The Darien replied. Grabbing the towel from my hand and turning her back to me, she walked away.  
  
~ FLASH BACK ~ (end of)  
  
"hey man - you ok ?" a voice cut through my thoughts. I jumped in surprise.  
  
So did Andrew, unfortunately the floor must have been newly mopped or there must have been something on the floor because he slipped and fell back. I reached out to grab him or to try and steady him but suddenly another flash of light blinded me.  
  
~ FLASH BACK ~ (start of)  
  
"What is it this time Meatball Head, cant stand up in your own two feet ?" Came the Darien's voice.  
  
Slowly Serena turned to face Darien. For a minute she stared at his confused expression, she had tears streaming down her face and a distressed look followed.  
  
"DARIEN, STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT !!! O.K. ? LLLEAVE MMME AAALONE !!!! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU !!!! WHY CANT YOU LET ME BE ! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO PICK ON ME !!!!!! JUST BECAUSE I'M SMALLER THAN YOU DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN PICK ON ME !!!!!!" She screamed at him, sobbing she ran out of the arcade.  
  
"Serena WAIT - Serena !!" the Darien called after her.  
  
They both ran out of the arcade and into the stormy night.  
  
~ FLASH BACK ~ (end of)  
  
(A.N. if you haven't already figured it out - both the flash backs are from the night of the accident - from the first chapter)  
  
"hey Darien ? come on - you ok. ?" some one was shaking me.  
  
"yeah" I gasped, prying open my eyes and breaking away from the strong grip. It was Andrew. He must've managed to regain his balance 'cos he was standing steadily in his own two feet - if anything I was the one who needed something to hold on to. Grabbing the edge of a table I tried to shake off the unsteady feeling from my head.  
  
"You zoned out for a minute - mesmerized by the sailor V game?" Andrew joked. When I didn't reply he's smile disappeared. "or was it something else ?" he asked hesitantly.  
  
"Something else." I mumbled quickly. 'DARIEN, STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT !!! O.K. ? LLLEAVE MMME AAALONE !!!! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU !!!! WHY CANT YOU LET ME BE ! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO PICK ON ME !!!!!! JUST BECAUSE I'M SMALLER THAN YOU DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN PICK ON ME !!!!!!' her screeching words echoed in my mind over and over again.  
  
When I didn't reply Andrew went on. "Well Serena's here and she's ready to meet you."  
  
"wha- ? NO ! You cant- I" I stuttered. I glanced around nervously. "I- I'm not - not ready yet." I said trying to think of a reason. Well I could think of lots of reasons, like the fact that we argued and the fact that she hated me - but I couldn't explain it to Andrew - unless he already knew about this already.  
  
"it doesn't matter. You don't come out of the hospital and refuse to see your girlfriend. -at least say hi to her." Andrew grabbed my elbow and firmly started guiding me across the arcade.  
  
"Andrew- you don't understand. I just- I cant !" I stammered unsuccessfully. We were not only approaching the counter where Serena was seated but Lita too- the girl from yesterday.  
  
I saw Serena smile and nod at Lita and say something, looking around the arcade. But as soon as she saw me her smile froze.  
  
*********************************Serena******************************  
  
" . . . . guy is sooo cute ..looks like my old boyfriend ! . . . . . . in love with him . . . . hope I see him again . . . . . he is just sooo amazing . . . . it was kinda embarrassing . . . . . . but he was totally cool about . . ."  
  
I nodded between spoonfuls of my chocolate Sundae - I wasn't really paying any attention to what Lita was saying. But I had a pretty good idea about 'who' she was saying it about. 'didn't Lita know that Darien was suppose to be my boy friend ?' maybe she had never met him. I felt weird about all of this.  
  
"How long have Darien and I been together ?" I bluttered out suddenly, interrupting her.  
  
She starred at me - her mouth open amidst what she was trying to tell me. "uhh well - umm I don't know . . . . exactly." She frowned. Her eyes darted then looked away guiltily.  
  
(Lita's P.O.V. here I've been going on about Pete and Serena's been worried about Darien all along !)  
  
"Did you ever meet ? You know you and Darien ?" I pressed on.  
  
"What ? No !!" she said a little too quickly. (Lita's P.O.V. oh my god!!! could Serena have seen us yesterday ?) "I wonder where Andrew's disappeared to." She said - probably in attempt at changing the subject.  
  
I smiled in spite of how miserable I felt. I didn't understand most of it but if Lita didn't want to say anything - I trusted her . . . . . . I hope. I glanced around the arcade, trying to get a glimpse of Andrew.  
  
I saw someone - but it wasn't Andrew.  
  
********************************Darien*******************************  
  
'Darien - your needed at the 'Beauty Boutique' behind the Domino's pizza parlour. There 's going to be an attack. Hurry.' Sailor Pluto's voice rang out clearly interrupting my thoughts. But for once I was glad to hear from her.  
  
I grabbed my elbow from Andrew. "There's something wrong - I have to go to the beau- my apartment. I left the uhh stove on." Before Andrew could answer I made a dash towards the arcade door.  
  
******************************Andrew********************************  
  
"But- Darien - WAIT !!" but it was too late he had already disappeared through the door. I turned back around towards the girls. Serena was sitting next to Lita her spoon halfway towards her mouth - a look of distress expressed on her face, she was starring beyond me towards the arcade door in which Darien had just left.  
  
I groaned inwardly - thinking of what it could possibly look like to her - her boyfriend running away from her. Then I glanced at Lita, she had finally stopped talking long enough to notice Serena's expression. But even as I glanced at Lita I felt uncomfortable. She was one of the girls who hung around Serena - Serena's 'close circle' one might say.  
  
'was she in on this plan on getting Serena and Darien together as a couple ?' I couldn't help wandering. "hunky and dreamy" weren't the kind of words you'd use on a guy you're trying to pair up with your best friend. (A.N. did that make any sense ???)  
  
But -then again - if she wasn't in on the plan why had Darien asked 'her for help ? could it be that Darien liked Lita back ? these confused thoughts kept appearing and most of there concepts I didn't like.  
  
The only way to solve my problem - or the problem that might be occurring was to talk to either of them.  
  
*******************************Serena********************************  
  
I only managed to catch a glimpse of Darien - no sooner than I had caught sight of him than he had dashed out of the arcade. 'some boyfriend' I couldn't help thinking. But then again, I was glad that he hadn't stuck around - what was I going to do with Lita there anyway ?  
  
If we really 'were' a couple then - I dunno. But if we weren't a couple everything would make much more sense. I sighed out loud. How could one of my best friends be falling for my boyfriend ?  
  
When I finally rid myself of all the self pity I was indulging in I glanced up to see both Andrew and Lita starring at me questioningly. Lita was looking at me and Darien back and forth as though that would solve everything.  
  
"did I miss something ?" she questioned us.  
  
I looked at Andrew - he was looking increasingly uncomfortable by the minute. 'why would he feel uncomfortable ?' I wondered. Unless he knew something I didn't. by the look of sympathy he had flashed me - I'd take it that he felt sorry for me. The only way I'd be able to get anything out of him would be through guilt. If I played my cards right I might be able to pull this off. But when ?  
  
I hid a smirk. The sooner the better. "Excuse me." I sniffed, jumped off my stool and dashed towards the girls room - but not fast enough to hear Lita hiss at Andrew.  
  
"what's going on ?"  
  
*-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~*-.,,.-*~* 5 minutes later  
  
I reappeared to the counter flashing both Andrew and Lita weak smile. They were both looking slightly guilty and concerned.  
  
"I better get going home. Or mum will be worried." I said finally breaking the silence. Lita opened her mouth to answer but she was interrupted by a familiar beeping sound.  
  
'BEEP' 'BEEP' 'BEEP' 'BEEP' 'BEEP' 'BEEP' BEEP' 'BEEP'  
  
"what's that ?" Andrew and I asked at the same time - what ever it was, it was coming from Lita.  
  
"that would be my uhh . . . . beeper !" she said rummaging through her pocket nervously. She pulled out the familiar looking pink object, and murmuring a quick excuse she disappeared towards the pay phones.  
  
But I knew it wasn't a beeper she pulled out - it was the little square thing that gave you messages - the one like I had. (A.N. communicator) I was positive that I was sailor moon - but if she had that communicating thing it only meant that she was one of those girls - who dressed like me in similar sailor costumes.  
  
I wished I'd bought my communicating thing - but I'd left it at home, the only thing I'd bought was the brooch - which was inside my pocket. From the flash back's I'd had I knew that I needed that to transform into sailor moon. I glanced at Andrew, he was looking towards the arcade door - there were more customers entering, smiling at me apologetically he walked away.  
  
Getting up I tip toed towards the pay phones. I slipped into the next one to Lita.  
  
"Lita get to the 'Beauty Boutique' ! its near the domino's pizza parlour. We found the monster. Hurry !"  
  
it was Mina !! I didn't have time to waste - from her voice I could tell it was pretty urgent.  
  
*******************************Darien********************************  
  
I traced the familiar steps towards the domino's pizza. But a stayed a floor above the super stores. I didn't feel like making a grand entrance like I had done last night.  
  
I had reached a corridor leading elevators and stairs, making sure that there was no one around I called sailor Pluto. 'do I transform in any less pain ?' She didn't answer instead I started transforming - amazingly I didn't feel much of the pain - maybe it was because the elevator door opened and my mouth was hanging open itself, but in shock.  
  
*~*~*~*~ hhmmm... wonder WHO is in the elevator . . . . . ::grins:: I am so evil with the cliff hangers !!!! well looks like there's a love triangle - or square ?! Lita thinks Serena likes Darien, Serena thinks Lita likes Darien, Serena kinda likes Darien, Darien kinda likes Serena but thinks Serena hates him, Andrew thinks that Darien likes Lita and Lita likes him back, all the while Lita is wrapped up with Pete !  
  
::blinks innocently:: "what have I started ???" you'll just have to wait for the next chapter !!!!!!  
  
*C*Bunny*  
  
crescentmoon_bunny@hotmail.com 


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